Howard, Central ready for area opener at Auburn

Members of the Central baseball program know just how much each Area 3-7A game means.

In an area that contains just three teams — Central, Smiths Station and Auburn — only two will move on to the playoffs, a harsh reality the Red Devils became very familiar with last year as they lost their last game of the regular season to Smiths Station. The Panthers won the game, clinched a playoff berth and went on to win the state championship.

Central sat at home, wondering what could have been.

This year, as the Red Devils get set to open area play on Wednesday at Auburn, all three teams are ranked among the top 10 in Class 7A. Once again, one of those three will sit at home during the postseason.

First-year Red Devils coach Bobby Howard said he doesn’t like it, but that’s the way it is.

“I don’t like it,” Howard said. “I’d rather have a fourth team in there where we’d be in a lot better situation. But I knew that when I took the job. There’s been talk every year of changing it, but they haven’t yet. We’ve got to go by the parameters that they’ve set.”

Howard praised Auburn’s team this year, stating that he thought it was, on paper, the best of the three area teams. The Tigers already proved their worth in taking two of three from Smiths Station a week ago.

“They’ve just got such a rich tradition,” Howard said. “Their No. 1 pitcher is going to Auburn, they’ve got a great shortstop. They’ve just got a lot of athletes. They’re really, really deep.”

But his team doesn’t have to be better on paper. In an area that uses only six games to determine a playoff spot, Howard said he just needs his team to play better than the Tigers for three games.

Howard does like his team. He thinks it has improved steadily from Day 1, improving its hitting and getting solid contributions from its pitchers. The defense has been an area of focus, as it can come and go at times. But when the Red Devils play clean baseball, he thinks they are as good as anybody.

“We have played better,” Howard said. “But the main thing is with tomorrow we’ve got to go into a tough environment and play a tough team and that’s going to be a big test for us.”

The players, for their part, are saying all the right things. Last year does motivate them, but they’re focused on Game 1 against Auburn on Wednesday.

“Just win the first game out of the series,” pitcher Noah Wilkes said. “The first game is always the biggest game. If you win that first game, you’ve got the momentum going into the next two.”

“It’s a really big deal,” Tanner Belcher said. “There’s so much more energy in the air, I feel like. This is what we’ve prepared for. This is what we’ve worked for all season. This is where it all matters.”

Wednesday’s game begins at 6 p.m. at Auburn. The two teams face off again in a doubleheader on Thursday, beginning at 5 p.m. at Central.

This story was originally published April 12, 2016 at 7:25 PM with the headline "Howard, Central ready for area opener at Auburn."