Colts keep state playoff hopes alive By Jeff Rancudo

VARNELL — Maybe it’s a just a casual observer who notices. But it seems clear that coaches — especially baseball coaching types in the spring — were born with a gene for gently delivering psychological messages to their teenage players that deliver positive results. Tell them a game really counts, without really telling them.

Looks like Coahulla Creek High School baseball boss Michael Bolen imitates the father of psychology Sigmund Freud quite well when it really matters. And Friday, Bolen was playing the mild-mannered professor type after the Colts beat visiting Sonoraville, 6-4. The Colts improved to 12-10 overall and 6-6 in Region 6-3A action in the tight race for the top four 6-3A spots which qualify for the state playoffs. Coahulla Creek sits in sixth place in the region heading into today’s 11 a.m. home game against second-place Calhoun, and Bolen and the Colts could use all the help they could get — mental and physical.

Good thing the Colts are peaking just at the right time as Coahulla Creek has won five of its last seven games and will wind up the season with the Calhoun game today, and visiting 18-5, 13-0 Ringgold on Tuesday before facing winless Gordon Central April 21 and Lakeview- Fort Oglethorpe, which is 14-8, 7-5, on April 22.

Friday, Colts pitcher Trent Collins threw a two-hitter through six innings for a 6-2 lead, before being replaced by reliever Spencer Hawkins. If guts mean anything, the Colts are right where they need to be as top performances are needed to make the playoffs. Bolen pulled Collins after he neared 110 pitches but Collins hated to leave. Likewise, Colts right fielder Robbie Stavrow bloodied his nose when he face-planted the outfield fence chasing a Matthew Vincent triple in the seventh inning. But Stavrow, too, left under quiet protest.

“We got in some tough situations and (Collins) was able to work himself out,” Bolen said. “He had one good inning when it was an eight- or nine-pitch inning. And that was a good inning that kept him able to continue on through the sixth inning. He was able to work himself out of a couple jams and just continue to battle on the mound.

“I wouldn’t necessarily say a must win, but it was a game that was crucial for us to come in and try to get. I don’t feel like we’re in a must-win situation, or anything. And I definitely don’t want the guys to think they’re in a must-win situation. I just want them to do what they do and play and have a good time doing it,” Bolen said. “Any time we step on the field with a region opponent, in our eyes it’s a must win. You can look at the numbers and base it off the numbers and look down at the standings and call it a must-win. But, from game one in region play, we look at it as a must-win.”

Collins was pleased with his pitches, but he’s probably more excited with the overall team success.

“I just executed pitches I needed to make in big situations,” he said. “With guys on second and third with one or no outs, I limited it to one run, instead of letting all the runs score. That was the big thing tonight. I think we’re in a good position. Our pitching staff’s been pretty strong this year. If we just hit the ball and put four-plus runs on the board, I think we’ve got a chance to win every game. We’re playing real good as a team right now. It’s good to have a defense that came make plays behind you.”  

Coahulla Creek fans hope the Colts can qualify the state playoffs. The team looked strong as they jumped to a 6-1 lead after a churning out two runs in the first inning and four more runs in the second frame. In the second inning, Ethan Whaley reached first on a fielder’s choice, took second on a walk by Hayden Lock and scored along with Lock when Peyton Runion crushed a two-run single.

Sonoraville tallied one run in the second inning. Logan Thomas was hit by a pitch, took second on a fielder’s choice and scored on Maverick Curtis’ single.

The Colts scored their four runs in the second inning with the help of two hits and three Phoenix errors for a 6-1 lead. During the uprising, Hunter Cronan smashed a single to score both Lock and Runion. Earlier in the inning, Collins reached on an error and courtesy runner Michael King later scored when Joseph Schwartz reached on another Sonoraville error. Ethan Whaley pushed Stavrow home with a groundout to shortstop.

Sonoraville gave Coahulla Creek a small scare in the seventh inning when it produced the team’s third and fourth runs. Hayden Bunch got on board with a bunt and scored a throwing error to first base by Colts catcher Runion. Vincent tripled to right on the play where Stavrow was hurt. But after backup pitcher Hawkins walked Tyler Lyles, he induced Zach Collum to fly out to center to end the game.

“We did a good job of staying middle and back side. We did a good job on the base paths. We took some extra bases by being aggressive on the base paths,” Bolen added. “We’ve been playing some pretty good baseball over the last couple of weeks, especially. We’re playing our best and most consistent baseball at this point of the season. That’s what you want. We’ve got four more games to finish.”