When last we left the Buford, Gainesville, and Jefferson baseball teams, all three were battling for state titles in 2015.
Buford won Region 8-AAAA and went on to sweep Whitewater in the Class AAAA finals to claim the championship behind one of the state’s best pitching staffs. The Red Elephants lost to Greenbrier in the Class AAAAA finals in a tough three-game series on the road after winning Region 8-AAAAA. The Dragons lost to Blessed Trinity in the Class AAA finals in a pair of close games after finishing second in Region 8-AAA.
While much has changed for all three programs since May, one thing that hasn’t is the drive to continue what they started.
All three teams also are connected through coaching friends Tony Wolfe (Buford), Jeremy Kemp (Gainesville), and Tommy Knight (Jefferson). Kemp played for Wolfe as a youth player and Kemp and Knight are long-time friends.
And, all three are hoping that the process of learning what it takes just to get within arm’s length of the trophy, and even win it, will help carry their squads in 2016.
“The whole experience of getting to the finals is something that we hope will help us this year,” Knight said. “They guys that we have coming back saw what it was like and hopefully they can pass on some of that knowledge to the newer kids. Learning how to get there is half the battle.”
“We had been chasing it and now we know how to get there,” Kemp said. “I think that experience will help, but in the end it’s still a game and you have to hit the ball, catch the ball, and throw strikes. If you don’t do those things no experience in the world will help you.”
All three teams will sport new looks in 2016.
Buford lost its top four pitchers, including Jake Higginbotham and Connor Bennett, and three-year starter at catcher Joey Bart, to graduation among a talented group. But Wolfe said the losses of each season are not something they dwell on.
"Each year kids graduate and it's a new season and a new team. We really don't talk about what happened the year before," he said. "There are some guys on the team that were a big part of last year but we also have a lot of new guys so this team will become what they make of it."
Gone for the Red Elephants are catcher Michael Curry, third baseman Mikey Gonzalez, first baseman Caleb Whitenton, and outfielder Brandon Sewell, who all played key roles in their run to the championship series. But, they do return a pair of left-handed pitchers in Sam Carpenter (coming off an injury) and Jonathan Gettys along with solid fielders in shortstop Fedrick Cardona, and centerfielder and leading returning hitter Anthony Carrera.
Kemp sounded a lot like his mentor Wolfe.
"This is a new team. We'll have to see who fits where and then see what kind of potential we have," he said. “Last year at this time we lost two starters just before the season started and no one expected us to make a serious run, and especially not to the finals. We’re going to approach this year the same way we did last year and just take it one at a time and try to get better every week.”
The Dragons, much like Buford, lost the bulk of their pitching staff in Micah Carpenter, Ethan Garner, Christian Hutch, and Jake Franklin and four of their top hitters to graduation. But Knight said that group also has helped the program perhaps turn the corner.
“That was a great group and they set the tone for the younger guys to follow,” Knight said. “We’re hoping that the experience for the guys who are returning will help us maintain things. They saw what it takes to get there and I really think that should help us as the season goes along.”
Buford will get its season under way first traveling to Class AAAAAA South Gwinnett on Tuesday. Gainesville will play host to North Oconee on Friday in its season opener at Ivey-Watson Field, and Jefferson will get started on Saturday in the Athens Christian Tournament taking on Tattnall Square Academy and Athens Christian in a three-team triple-header.
All three coaches also sounded as if they were reading from a script when asked about expectations for the new season.
“We have a lot of potential but we have a lot of work to do,” Kemp said. “We’re still trying to put a lineup together. It will be a work in progress.”
“The expectations are always high but we have a long ways to go yet,” Wolfe said. “We have a lot of talented guys coming back but there is still a lot of work to do.”
“We know we’re going to have a bullseye on us and we talked about that,” Knight said. “We’re trying not to hear what people are saying about us, good or bad. We have the potential for another good season but we will have to work really hard to get back to where we were last year.”
