Deerfield-Windsor baseball team ready for the semifinals

ALBANY — The Deerfield-Windsor baseball team has made quick work of its first two opponents in the Georgia Independent Schools Association Class AAA state playoffs, but the competition is sure to get tougher today in the semifinals.

The Knights will host The Heritage School of Newnan in a three-game series starting today at noon. If a third game is needed, it would be played at noon on Saturday.

School officials moved the game up three hours from its original start time to hopefully avoid a late afternoon storm that is expected to roll in.

In the first four games of the postseason, the Knights have yet to a play a full seven-inning game.

Deerfield-Windsor made quick work of its second-round opponent last weekend, beating Pinewood Christian 11-1 and 16-2. They also had no problem with their first-round matchup with Bethlehem Christian, beating them 13-3 and 15-0.

“I think our hitters have just been seeing the ball very well,” Deerfield-Windsor’s Charles Crosby said. “Really what has helped us the most has been that our pitchers are throwing strikes. It keeps our head in the game because we aren’t out there on defense for a long time.”

Deerfield-Windsor coach Jonathan Davis is hoping that a tough schedule to end the year will continue to help his team in the tournament. The Knights lost their final two regular-season games but reeled off nine straight wins before the losses to Valwood and Glenwood.

“I think it prepares us for the tournament,” Davis said. “We played some really tough teams and got exploited a little bit. We had to sit down at the end of the regular season and break it all down and find out where we were weak at.”

At one point during the middle of the season, Deerfield-Windsor played nine games in just 11 days, eight of which were on the road. The Knights also traveled to Florida, Alabama and South Carolina for games this season.

“It has helped us a lot,” Deerfield’s Chandler Matthews. “Playing those games got our pitchers ready and got them used to throwing a lot of innings in a short amount of time. We also played a lot of out-of-state opponents which helped us a lot.”

Heritage beat Brookwood in the first round and knocked out John Milledge in the second to advance to the semifinals.

“They are a very sound team,” Davis said. “Their pitchers will be in the zone and the infielders will make all the routine plays. If you do beat them, you are going to actually have to beat them.”