Darton baseball hosts East Central District Tournament

ALBANY — Scot Hemmings’ deep Christian faith has taught him that everything happens for a reason.

And the Darton State College baseball coach hopes that a pair of early exits in the East Central Georgia District Tournament during the past two seasons has prepared him for the regional tournament that begins today.

The Cavaliers will play host to nationally-ranked Walters (Tenn.) State in the opening game of the four-team, double-elimination tournament at noon. Darton needs three victories to earn a trip to the Junior College World Series next week in Grand Junction, Colo.

“I know the good Lord has paved the way for me and my family to be here for a reason … baseball being one of them,” Hemmings said. “I made some coaching mistakes where I rode a pitcher probably an inning longer than I should have and hopefully, some of those previous experiences will allow the coaches and the players to make some better decisions.”

Darton (39-18) rolled through the conference tournament last week, pounding South Georgia State 18-1 in the championship game. The Hawks, who earned an at-large bid, will meet Dyersburg State in the 3:30 p.m. game.

The Cavaliers believe an early-season nonconference schedule against national junior college powers Northwest Florida State, Chipola and San Jacinto (Texas) has prepared them for the East Central District Tournament.

And the idea of serving as the host site makes it even better.

“We’ve played really well on our home field and we expect to win here,” catcher John Cable said. “It’s our last year and we have nothing to lose at this point. We just want to go out and play well.”

The Cavaliers, in their final year before the school merges with Albany State, believe the team is good enough to make a run at the world series. Five players have signed to continue their playing careers at NCAA Division I schools, while a handful of others will continue at Division II schools.

Hemmings said his team has dealt with pressure all season.

“We talk about everything and we talk about pressure,” he said. “If you’re not faced with pressure and not prepared for it, how can you overcome it?

“There has been an enormous amount of pressure on these guys this year. My belief is you only get what you expect out of them. These players have given everything we’ve expected from them to make this institution very proud.”

Tyler Morris doesn’t want the team to start setting its sights on the Junior College World Series and forget about the East Central District Tournament. Last season, the Cavaliers lost two quick games and were sent home.

“Making the world series is our ultimate goal, but we’ve got to get the job done this week,” Morris said. “There are things we have to do before we can start worrying about next week.”