Columbus, Northside revved for showdown

Northside and Columbus High baseball coaches Dee Miller and Chad Mathis have been involved in the sport long enough to know that no game can be taken for granted.

Both coaches, as well as their teams, prefer to approach each game with the same determination and enthusiasm for fear that one poor performance can snowball into a poor week, month or season.

But does that mean that all games are equal? Not hardly.

Columbus will play at Northside today, the two team’s first meeting so far this season. Both entered the season as two of the favorites in Region 1-5A, and they’ve played like it. They are tied atop the region standings at 5-1. The Blue Devils have lost just once all year, region play or otherwise, to LaGrange, while the Patriots dropped a region contest at Hardaway and are 9-3 overall.

With a chance to get a leg up on the other in the first trip through the region schedule, both coaches know that a little bit more rides on today’s game than normal.

“There is a little more heightened awareness to what’s at stake,” Miller said.

“It’s huge,” Mathis said of the possibility of taking a one-win advantage over Northside. “I want our guys to go in tomorrow with a lot of confidence. To me, if you can make that statement in the first round of region play, it can really help their confidence going forward.”

Columbus hasn’t lacked in confidence thus far. Pitcher Cason Greathouse has been the impetus of the team’s success, serving as an ace on the mound and one of the toughest outs in the lineup offensively. He was the All-Bi-City pitcher of the year last season as a junior, but he has become even more effective as a senior.

Just 12 games into the season, Greathouse has already compiled a 6-0 record and a 1.30 earned run average. He has struck out 39 batters and allowed just 22 hits in over 32 total innings pitched. At the plate, he’s batting .406 with eight RBIs.

“To be honest, we’re just a better team when we have him on the mound,” Mathis said. “He’s done well on the mound, but he’s also strong offensively and we can keep his bat in the lineup.”

That will be the case today, Mathis said, as he expects his ace to get the call on the mound. Miller said he was fairly sure who would get the start for Northside, but that he was going to keep it close to the vest for the time being.

The pitching has been one of the main strengths for Northside so far this season — it currently sports a 2.15 earned run average during region play — but Miller said it’s also been the success of the batters that have helped the Patriots start off so well.

“We’ve been hitting the ball better,” he said. “We made some adjustments in batting practice, and it’s resulted in a better approach at the plate. We’ve tried to limit our weaknesses and maximize our strengths, taking what the kids do well and focusing on that. We just wanted to get away from some things that would expose some weaknesses.”

So far, so good.

But arguably their biggest test thus far will come today. Both teams come prepared, though, having already faced a strong non-region schedule. That was, of course, by design, Miller said.

“This is why we play the non-region schedule that we do,” Miller said. “We play teams that played in the elite eight and things like that. We’ve matched up against some real quality opponents, and we talk about that. I want our guys to know every time we’re getting an opportunity to play one of these teams that we have to play our best or we’re going to get exposed.”

Mathis echoed those sentiments.

“We have to take these one at a time,” he said. “You can’t take any team in this region for granted.”

This story was originally published March 21, 2016 at 6:58 PM with the headline "Columbus, Northside revved for showdown."