Braves' Wins In Series Over Columbus Could Be a Catalyst for Future Success
The Braves got back to playing their brand of baseball after a Peach Belt Conference clash with the Cougars of Columbus State University who came into the contest riding a game winning streak, sat atop the conference standings and were ranked No.3 in the nation. They captured the three-game weekend series 2-1 in impressive fashion this past weekend and Head Coach Paul O’Neil believes that this triumph could catapult the team into the thick of conference play. “We’ve got to keep playing well each day that we come to the ballpark,” said O’Neil. “We can’t not play well and that’s the secret…Every time that we play a baseball game, we’ve got to bring a sense of purpose to what we’re trying to do, a sense of urgency to every single game.” He believed that the team had been practicing well through the early going of the season, but they just weren’t able to translate it to game day and carry those good practice tendencies into consistent wins. They have been in nearly every game that they have lost up to this point and failed to seal the deal or complete the comeback. “As long as their practicing hard and trying to get better each day then we’re going to be okay. We dug ourselves a major hole, we know our backs are against the wall and we’re chasing Peach Belt victories,” said O’Neil. This wasn’t the case in their series with Columbus State, however, with the exception of a miraculous double play in the bottom the ninth on day two that cost the Braves the sweep, the home team dominated the Cougars in the other two contests. “I think that the guys have been really practicing hard. They were into it from the first pitch on Friday until the last pitch today. We got great starting pitching this weekend. Our starting pitching set the tone for us and gave us a chance to keep going,” said O’Neil.
