Ready or not, River Region teams open area play
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Coach Keith Lucky and St. James will open area play on Thursday against Opp. (Staff Photo) Staff Report Shortly after a loss in the recent FCA Jason Armstrong Baseball Classic, St. James head baseball coach Keith Lucky chose to look ahead to games that would count more than an 11-4 loss to Trinity Presbyterian. “Everybody is building towards the area games,” Lucky said. “We take what we can out of games like this and move on.” The time has now come for the Trojans and many of the baseball teams in the River Region, which open area play this weekend. St. James is one of several teams that begin “the ones that count” on Thursday. Weather permitting, St. James opens Class 4A, Area 2 play against Opp on Thursday. Brewbaker Tech also opens play on Friday against Ashford. Montgomery Catholic faces Elmore County beginning Friday. Trinity plays Montevallo while LAMP takes on Montgomery Academy. All three-game series are home-and-home with the third game counting in the standings if the two teams split the first two. It makes pitching a premium. “You try to set up your pitching for the rest of the season and sometimes that can reflect in your record,” said Brew Tech coach John Gluschick. “We’ve had a pretty good run so far (Brew Tech is 9-2). But it comes down to how well prepared a team is on the mound.” Most teams have spent the first month priming their pitching staffs. Youth has played a role for most. Injuries have also played a role. “We’ve played a difficult schedule and we hope this young team can build from it,” Lucky said. “We’ve got one senior so we are playing a young group. "Most coaches agree that you get better by facing better competition and we have done that. We’re young and taken some lumps. We have to improve, especially our defense.” Lucky believes his team will also benefit with warmer weather… but so will everyone else. “It’s been so cold and that affects so many aspects of baseball,” Lucky said. “I don’t think baseball was meant to be played in such cold weather but you play when the schedules says to play. It’s tough but it will make the spring that much more enjoyable.” Most teams in the River Region open area play following next week’s spring break. Teams will use that time for one more tournament. Wetumpka will hold its annual Spring Fling tourney while others such as LAMP and Brew Tech will travel south for the Gulf Shores Nike Classic. Here is a list of area series scheduled this weekend. Most series begin on Friday unless listed otherwise. The area standings are also listed. Overall records are through games of Wednesday. Area schedule Thursday’s games Friday’s games (Game times subject to change) Saturday’s games
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