Making their run

The Rome Braves are currently in the middle of a chase for a playoff spot.

On Saturday night, the Rome Braves handed out commemorative championship rings, celebrating last year’s triumph in the South Atlantic League postseason. Fans packed the stadium as they remembered a team that never broke down, even after a bad first half.

But while the team looked back on the past, it’s still transfixed on what is going on in the present. The Braves have a chance to clinch the postseason before the All-Star break, and it’s giving everything it has for the final push.

“We know that with all the hitters in the lineup, we have guys that are going to show up on the field and perform,” Rome catcher Brett Cumberland said. “It’s not just one guy; it takes everyone on the team.”

After a 4-3 win against West Virginia Saturday, the Braves now sit 2.5 games behind the Greenville Drive in the SAL Southern Division first-half standings. And with only 14 games left in the first half, Rome needs to make its push immediately. The margin between Rome and Greenville dropped significantly during the Braves’ 11-game road trip, with the team going 8-3.

They got within a half game of first place last Tuesday before they lost to Greenville in the second game of a doubleheader.

A large part of the resurgence came in late innings, with Rome scoring in the final three innings in seven of its last 12 games.

It has led to plenty of comebacks, and a feeling that the team can challenge any type of deficit.

“I was kind of joking with our hitting coach how we let their starter do their thing and then wait to dominate the bullpen,” Cumberland said.

“But that’s kind of been what we’ve been doing recently, and it has been working.”

A perfect example of Rome’s “noquit” attitude came in the fifth inning of Saturday’s win, when Anthony Concepcion tied the game at two with a triple.

Ingle then called the suicide squeeze, with Concepcion running home while Yeudi Grullon laid down a bunt.

It went to perfection, and Rome took a lead it would not give up.

“You have to make a gamble sometimes in this game,” Ingle said. “It’s a feeling you have sometimes, and you have to know your personnel. And the guys up in that situation were the perfect ones to do it.”

The race between the Drive and the Braves could culminate on the final weekend of the first half, when Rome hosts Greenville for a threegame series.

In seven meetings this season, Rome has gone 4-3 against the firstplace Drive.

But Ingle is not worried about anything two weeks away; he’s worried about the present and what the team can do to make up the deficit.

“We are not in first place right now, but we have some games to play,” Ingle said.

“Every night is important, and we just have to go out and take care of that game. Doesn’t matter if we’re looking too far down the road if we aren’t in striking distance.”