Raiders finish strong to land a playoff spot
It's not how a team starts but how it finishes that often determines a postseason opportunity.
There may not be another baseball team in The Golden Triangle area that is a better example of that than the Oak Hill Academy Raiders.
The defending Class 4A State champion Raiders will have an opportunity to defend that title this week against Manchester Academy as the Class 4A playoffs begin.
Oak Hill knew it was headed to the playoffs going into the final series of the regular season against Canton Academy but was able to clinch the No. 3 seed out of District 3 with an 18-4 victory over Canton Academy. and a favorable result from the Winona Christian-Carroll Academy series.
After starting the season with a 1-11 record, the Raiders finished with a 5-7 record in the district to get into postseason position. They swept Carroll Academy to begin district play.
“It all maters when it comes down to district,” Oak Hill coach John Siary said. “We played some really tough teams up front and mostly 5A and 6A teams, which is good for us. We need that and the guys understand that. To be good, you've got to play good competition and we did that up front.
“We are in a different district too with Canton, Winston, Carroll and Winona so that was a little different for us too. We used to be in District 1 with Kirk, Marshall, North Delta and those guys. A little bit different competition, but it was good. We learned a lot from it. We had some close games with Canton, but we got the best of them in that last one which helped us. It was a good way to go into the playoffs too.”
After the two teams began the series Tuesday night in West Point, the action shifts to Yazoo City on Thursday with game two at 4 p.m. and a possible third game following.
Siary said Manchester Academy has some ability in some areas that can make it difficult on the Raiders.
“I know they have some good arms and speed on the bases,” Siary said. “They are a disciplined team and very good in that district.”
Editor’s Note: The recap of Tuesday night’s game one of the postseason baseball series between Oak Hill Academy and Manchester Academy was not available at press time. A report will be provided along with Thursday’s results in the weekend Daily Times Leader.