By Jamie Wachter
THOMASVILLE — There won’t be any easing into the Region 1-AAAA schedule for defending champion Thomas County Central.
Instead the Yellow Jackets launch their repeat bid at perennial power Lee County today at 6 p.m.
“It’s not easy at all,” Central coach Chad Parkerson said. “We’re going to see what we’re made of.
“They’re always strong. Lee and Lowndes and all of them, they’re always going to be good. They don’t have down years. They just reload.”
When the Yellow Jackets toppled the Trojans last season, it marked the first time in four seasons without a region title for Lee County. That should only make the road even rougher for Central (7-3).
“Last year was last year and we’ve got to pitch and play defense and get some hits when we need them,” Parkerson said. “They haven’t forgotten about last year, and we can’t coast in thinking, ‘Hey, we beat them last year.’ It’s a whole new year and a whole different set of circumstances.”
Still, the biggest obstacle may be the presence of Jack Posey — a Florida State signee — and Thomas Nichols — a Georgia Tech signee.
Still, Parkerson hopes the non-region schedule that included Lowndes, Holy Innocents’, Tift County and Effingham County has the Jackets prepared the loaded Trojans.
“When I set the schedule, that’s why I do it,” he said. “When you play good teams, you get better or you get drummed. It makes us compete at a higher level. That way when you face a Lee County, you don’t totally just get shell-shocked. You’ve seen good baseball being played.”
One reason Parkerson is ready to head into the region schedule has been the Jackets’ recent success at the plate. Central has scored 42 runs in their past three games, including 17 against Colquitt County on Saturday.
“Lately, I’ve been pleased with how we’ve been swinging the bats,” Parkerson said.
