Sometimes a victory is the best medicine.
After all, there is only so much you can say and so long you can talk before the time comes to go out on the field and perform. Following losses in four of his squad’s last five regular-season games, New Hope High School baseball coach Lee Boyd hoped his team was going to be able to find a way to re-focus. In the unfamiliar position of being a No. 3 seed, New Hope faced the prospect of going on the road to play at No. 1 seed Neshoba Central in Game 1 of its best-of-three opening-round Mississippi High School Activities Association Class 5A State tournament series.
Instead of dwelling on the most recent results, New Hope opted to forge a new path and to get back to its tenets of solid pitching and defense. Two wins later, New Hope is back in the second round and primed to take another step.
Thanks to 10-1 and 7-1 victories against Neshoba Central, New Hope (18-10) will take on Lewisburg at 7 p.m. Friday in Game 1 of the second-round best-of-three series. Game 2 will be at 7 p.m. Saturday at New Hope. If needed, Game 3 will be at 7 p.m. Monday at Lewisburg.
“I think a couple of those games — I am not going to say the Saltillo games — it was a complete lack of focus,” Boyd said. “That was not an excuse, but I know for sure that was a fact in two of those games.”
A 7-4 loss to Saltillo in the final week of the regular season included 10 walks and several fielding miscues that dropped New Hope to the No. 3 seed behind Oxford and Saltillo in Class 5A, Region 2. New Hope also had to wipe away the memory of an eight-error showing that proved costly in a loss to Region 2 rival West Point. But Boyd said the team regrouped and benefited from better control on the mound. As a result, Boyd said the defense didn’t have to feel the pressure of having to make a play with so runners on base and the pitchers didn’t have to deal with the pressure of having to make a pitch.
“We were up 4-1 in the fourth inning against Saltillo and played great defense through three innings,” Boyd said. “But when walks and errors happen, it puts a lot of pressure on your defense.”
Senior catcher Will Godfrey said the Trojans “came ready to play” against Neshoba Central. He said the players were prepared for the games, but he didn’t think everyone was “mentally ready” like they were against Neshoba Central. He said the Trojans did a better job in practice because they all knew two losses could end their season.
After committing too many mistakes at the end of the regular season, Godfrey admitted it was hard to put the losses behind them, but he said everyone used the ultimate goal of advancing to Trustmark in Pearl to play for a state title as a way to get them back on track.
“I don’t remember the last time New Hope was a No. 3 seed,” Godfrey said. “I don’t think it has been since I have been here. It really pushed us to get after it at practice. Coming from a No. 3 seed, it put my mind at a different level at practice and made me work harder because I know to get where we want to go, we have to practice better than that.”
Senior second baseman Shay Boyd agreed that the Trojans were able to focus a lot more. He said it wasn’t hard to come back after what he called a “pretty rough” two weeks. Boyd said the mistakes seemed to lead to more mistakes, which made it even harder to get out of the rut. But the reality of being a No. 3 seed snapped the Trojans back to attention. Boyd said the team had nothing to lose, so it decided to go out and play and not to think about everything that happened at the end of the regular season.
“We just weren’t playing as a team,” Boyd said. “I think we just realized what we were doing wrong. Coach Boyd talked to us. He talked to us a lot. We all know, especially the seniors, we know it is coming to an end, whether we win it or lose it. I think we just figured out we would rather play as a team than personally and build respect for each other and be better teammates.”
Lee Boyd said the two playoff victories were closer than the final scores indicated against a quality program. He hopes the wins have wiped the slate clean and given the players a confidence boost and a chance to make their wrongs right.
“We know every round gets harder from here on out, so we’re going to have to play just as good this round as we did last round to give ourselves a chance,” Boyd said.
Follow Dispatch sports editor Adam Minichino on Twitter @ctsportseditor
Adam Minichino is the former Sports Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
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