A Putnam County baseball team at full strength is dangerous, although that hasn’t been the case for the past couple of weeks.
The War Eagles dropped five straight contests to end the regular season. They also snuck into the GHSA Class AA state playoffs as the No. 4-seed out of Region 4-AA.
Both Jefferson County and Oglethorpe County swept Putnam County (14-10) in the last two weeks to close out league play. So, the War Eagles went from being tied for first place to dropping a couple of spots and barely making the state playoffs.
“We had a couple of different players missing for various reasons,” Putnam County head coach Mike Phiel said. “So, we were not at full strength for the last few weeks. We hope to have our full-roster return heading into the state playoffs (this week).”
The No. 4-seed War Eagles will be on the road this upcoming weekend at No. 1-seed Vidalia. The Indians (20-9) enter the best of three series on a 16-game winning streak.
According to MaxPreps, Vidalia is the No. 6-ranked team in Class AA. So, the War Eagles County have their work cut out for them if they want to advance to the Sweet 16.
“Vidalia is a complete team,” Phiel said. “They are good in all three phases. They have excellent pitching, they play excellent defense and they are a very good hitting team.”
The Indians currently have four seniors that are signed to play baseball at the collegiate level. The group has helped the program win over 80 games in the last four years.
The War Eagles will have to face off against the reigning Region 2-AA Pitcher of the Year in Caden Spivey this weekend. He signed to play at Notre Dame back in November.
On the mound, Putnam County will look to shutdown Mercer signee Ty Dalley at the plate. He entered the season with a career .358 batting average, per Frank Sulkowski of WJCL.
The Indians also boast seniors Bryson Whited (Georgia College) and Jordan Walden (Georgia Southwestern), who are each talented at their respective positions.
“They don’t have many weaknesses,” Phiel said. “They went undefeated in their region. They are tha way for a reason and are extremely talented. Vidalia is a very senior-junior-led team. It’s going to be tough and we’ve got a really tall task in front of us.”
Regardless, the War Eagles at full strength have enough talent to knock off the Region 2-AA champs. It’s all a matter of if the group can play a complete seven-inning game.
“We have to clean up three main areas,” Phiel said. “We have to throw strikes, put the bat on the ball, and not strike out, which we haven’t done consistently. Plus, play consistent defense and not make timely errors. As of late, we haven’t done those three things.”
PCHS and Vidalia will play a doubleheader on Friday starting at 4 p.m. The second game is slated to start shortly after the conclusion of game one. If needed, game three will be on Saturday at 1 p.m.