Vikings start title chase against Rockmart

GAINESVILLE - East Hall High baseball coach Jeff Cooper is no stranger to playoff baseball.

As a player at East Hall from 1984-86, he led the Vikings to three straight Final Four appearances. They lost each season to the eventual state champion.

As a player at the University of Georgia, Cooper was part of the Bulldogs National Championship team in 1990.

He still wears his championship ring. He would love nothing better than to add one from his high school alma mater.

"It would mean a lot to me, probably more so as a coach than a player," Cooper said Tuesday, just one day after his current Viking squad secured its first Region 8-AA title since 1995 with a win over Apalachee.

East Hall plays host to Rockmart Thursday in the first round of the Class AA playoffs with a scheduled doubleheader. Game time is approximately set for 3 p.m. but rain is in the forcast.

"It was fun as a player, but as a coach you get to see the improvement and development of the players and it's real rewarding and satisfying," Cooper said. "These guys have really worked hard the last couple of years."

There are no published rankings for the Class AA teams, but if there were, the Vikings surely would have to be near the top. They finished the regular season 22-4, 18-2 in the region.

Cooper said his team has used last year's loss in the Final Four to Calhoun as motivation for this season.

"That hurt and they said they wanted to improve on how they finished last year," Cooper said. "We had two goals this year: Win the region title and then the state championship. We're not looking past Rockmart but we know what the goal is."

All season East Hall has looked like a team on a mission. The Vikings' three starters - seniors Richard Riley and Blake Vandiver and junior Josh Hudgins - are a combined 20-4 with a combined ERA just over 2.00.

Two of their four losses came to defending Class AA champ cartersville and defending Class AAA champ and county rival Gainesville.

At the plate, the Vikings have been equally impressive. Junior Matt Christoph leads the team with a .630 average with 15 home runs and 50 RBI in just over 80 at-bats.

"He's been amazing all year," Cooper said.

Senior Kellen Clark is hitting .495 with 9 homers and 34 RBI. Hudgins is batting near .450 with 3 homers and Vandiver has 9 home runs.

"We can hit the ball and score some runs. And, we have the pitching that is so important this time of year," Cooper said. "We're not looking ahead but I do like this team. We've got a chance to win it all."