Monday’s 11-4 win was simply another sign of the progress the Apalachee High School baseball team is making this spring.
The Diamond Wildcats, who recorded their fourth region win with the 11-4 victory against visiting Clarke Central, continue to see improvements, even after they stepped up a classification and into one of the toughest regions in the state.
For AHS coach Mike Cavey, it’s all part of a plan which includes getting better step by step.
“Hopefully, we can continue to build on our confidence,” the Wildcat coach said. “We understand now that we can compete. We have had a couple of region games this season that were not close, but most we were in.”
The trip through the second half of the Region 8-AAAA slate began with Monday’s contest for AHS.
Being able to soundly defeat Clarke Central in the rematch after dropping the first matchup this season is a sign Cavey points to concerning his squad.
“The players said they battled through Monday,” the coach said. “We have developed a team concept. The ‘I’ factor is gone. It’s an attitude I like to see.”
Winning games has been key in the attitude upgrade, but Cavey has seen a difference even when the team loses.
“It’s how you handle the losses and how you grow from them that shows how you are progressing as a team,” the coach said Tuesday.
Slowly but surely, the Wildcats are also gaining respect from opponents. In Saturday’s 5-3 loss to Rockdale County, the Bulldogs had to bring in ace Buck Farmer to close the door on AHS and preserve the victory after using three different pitchers.
Rockdale took advantage of three homers for four of its runs in the win. Cavey said his team did not play bad in the contest but just could not quite get past the Bulldogs.