BUFORD -- If experience is king in the playoffs, then is perhaps Buford, the No. 1 team in Class AAAA and considered by many to be the class of the entire state -- and ranked in the top 10 nationally -- the underdog in Saturday’s championship series against Whitewater?
The Wolves are in their first championship series since 2011 -- when they won the Class AA title -- on Tuesday with an impressive sweep of Cartersville on the road.
They will hit the road again on Saturday with a 5 p.m. doubleheader and then Game 3, if necessary, scheduled for 4 p.m. Monday, Fayetteville.
However, no one on the current Wolves’ roster was a member of that 2011 squad and although Buford did make the Class AAA semifinals a year ago -- losing to Cartersville in three games -- that same group also lost in the first round to St. Pius in 2013.
Make no mistake, however, those results played key roles in propelling the Wolves into this year's championship series.
"We’ve kind of gone about our business in the offseason trying to remember that taste we had against Cartersville in the semifinals last year," Bufors senior pitcher Jake Higginbotham said. "We’ve used that to get better and work harder."
Whitewater, meanwhile, returns most of its roster from a team that lost a heartbreaking three-game series to Houston County in last year’s Class AAAAA championship series. Game 3 went nine innings before the Wildcats fell 8-7 after letting an early 6-0 lead slip away. It is the fourth straight season the Wildcats seniors have advanced to the semifinals or further.
So, what to make of all this? Not much, said Whitewater coach Rusty Bennett.
“I don’t think either team really has much of an advantage from an experience standpoint,” Bennett said. “Buford has played in a lot of big games over the years. There is so much talent on both teams that all that stuff kind of negates each other.”
One thing Bennett said he is sure of is that he expects a similar series to their AAAAA title showdown with Houston County last season.
“There was a lot of talent on the field in that series and I could see this one going three games just like that one,” Bennett said. “But if one team gets on a roll and is doing the little things better and gets some luck, maybe a sweep is possible. But I’m not counting on that. I expect a battle down to the last pitch.”
As are the Wolves, who edged out Whitewater, 1-0 in a game played back in the infancy of the 2015 campaign on March 4.
"We saw them earlier this year, and they play good baseball," Buford senior pitcher Keyton Gibson said. "We’re going to have to be on top of our game if we want to finish it off how we planned to this year."
Pitching is where this series is likely to be decided. Whitewater has allowed 11 total runs in nine games with one shutout. The Wildcats are led by seniors Jake Lee (11-1, 0.50 ERA) and Ethan Gillis (7-3, 1.00 ERA) on the mound. Senior Colby Taylor, a Georgia Highlands-signee, is 2-0 with six saves as their late-inning go to guy. Lee has signed with Georgia Tech while Gillis signed with Kennesaw State.
The Wolves hydra-like staff has been dominating all season, led by Jake Higginbotham (Clemson-signee), Connor Bennett (West Virginia), Keyton Gibson (Georgia Tech), and Kevin Coulter (Mercer). Buford has yielded just nine runs in eight games with four shutouts.
“Both these team’s can pitch so I don’t see a huge advantage for either team there either,” Bennett said. “(Buford) is loaded and we will have our hands full at the plate. But we feel we can throw some quality arms out there every game.
“But Jake and Ethan will have to pitch well for us. It’s hard to win when your main guys don’t come through when you need them. But I’m sure they’ll step up to the challenge.”
Neither team from an offensive standpoint is going to long ball anyone into submission. Whitewater has just 8 home runs all season while Buford has just 13. But both offenses know how to get guys on base and manufacture runs.
“I don’t see a lot of runs scored,” Bennett said. “That’s why doing the little things will be a big key to the series. And you can’t make mistakes in the field.”
The Wildcats will look to senior Georgia Highlands-signee Brandon Bell (3B, .462, 2 HR, 28 RBI) and senior Furman-signee Jabari Richards (CF, .389, 2 HR, 22 RBI, 29 R) to pace the offense. Senior shortstop Tyler Burdette (15 RBI, 27 BB, 23 R) also figures to be in the middle of the action.
"It’ll be tough. They swing at it. So you’ve got to make pitches. You’ve got to hit spots. You’re going to have to work out of some tough situations," Higginbotham said. "We know that going in, so we’re prepared for it. It’s going to be fun pitching to that line-up."
Buford’s Austin Wilhite (.362, 27 R) has been setting the table for Georgia Tech-signee Joey Bart (.429, 3 HR, 25 RBI) and brother Nick Wilhite (.347, 3 HR, 32 RBI). Justin Glover and Ian Jenkins have been swinging hot bats in the playoffs as well, as the Wolves seem to get stronger at the plate in each successive series.
"Offensively we really feel like we’ve come a long way," Buford coach Tony Wolfe said. "And throughout the playoffs I feel like we’ve been a much better offensive team. We don’t have a lot of power. We’ve only hit 17 home runs I believe. But we do have a good bit of speed and guys who can make contact and hit the ball the other way, so I like where our offense is right now. But it has to start with our pitching, and we have to pitch well."
"Knowing (coach Bennett) so well and having seen them back in early March we know they’re going to play hard. And they’re going to be sound and well-coached. We’re going to have our hands full for sure."
It could prove for a very exciting series of one-upmanship -- or, in this case, shut-down-manship.
