Pelham Hornets set to host first home play-off game in school history

PELHAM — For the first time in school history, the Pelham Hornets will be hosting a baseball playoff game in Pelham on Thursday.

The Hornets (20-6) will take on Commerce (19-10) in a best -of-three series to determine who moves on in the Class A state playoffs. The first game is scheduled for 4:30 p.m. at Pelham High School.

The game continues a trend for Pelham to be recognized as an athletic power. This past football season the Hornets went undefeated through the regular season and reached the state semifinals. Both basketball teams posted winning records and the boys finished second in the region behind eventual state champion Calhoun County. The school’s boys track team took second place in the region last week.

“It has been a wonderful season,” said first-year head coach Ron Best. “We have three of our four coaches that are new and we have really worked to move this program forward. The players have really worked hard as well and are excited about the playoffs.” Best came out of retirement to coach the Pelham baseball team after years at Thomas Central and Cairo.

Pelham finished third in Region 1-A behind Baconton and Seminole County, but have won their last 10 games. They lost to Baconton in extra innings the first time and lost 3-2 in the second game. Seminole County beat Pelham 4-0 the first time the two teams played, then beat the Hornets 1-0 in the second game. The Hornets earned a first round bye, however, as they took the No. 8 power ranking in Class A. “The bye has its ups and downs,” said Best. He pointed out that his team had not lost in April and wanted to keep playing because things were going so well. But he did add, “It gave me the chance to go and see our next opponent in action.”

Best drove the five hours to Commerce and watched the Tigers knock off Crawford County convincingly. Commerce won the two games 11-2 and 20-2.

“What I saw was that they were very strong defensively,” said Best. “They are not going to give anything away.” He also said the pitching looked good, but not overpowering. “They weren’t throwing super hard, but they were throwing smart. They knew where to throw the ball and when.”

Another thing Best pointed out was that Commerce carried themselves with confidence. “They carry themselves with confidence,” said Best. “They should because of the success they have had as a program.”

The Hornets were busy going through their final practice Wednesday afternoon before hosting the second round at home Thursday. The Hornets have been practicing throughout the time off but have also had a couple of days off because of rain. Best said he and the other coaches have done things a little differently during these practices. “ We are doing pretty much the same drills but changing things up a little,” he said. “I let the players know these are playoff practices, not just a regular practice. The Hornets made the playoffs last season, but lost in round one and did not get to host. Before that it had been a long, long time since Pelham had made the playoffs,” Best said.

Pelham built an impressive record with only 13 players on the roster and only two seniors. “I told the guys they have to eat oranges and get plenty of vitamin C because if a flu bug hit us, we would have to forfeit. We don’t have a lot players, but each of them is important.” The Hornets’ two seniors are the two pitchers that Pelham relies on. Cale Whigham and Gunner Wisham are the two lead pitchers for the Hornets. Levi Jacobs, Jacob Poitevent and Kaz Pickering also get time on the mound.

Joe Whitfield

Joe Whitfield

Joe Whitfield