Putnam County baseball head coach Stephen Phillips has seen his team vastly improve in the last few weeks.
The War Eagles struggled early in the season in several aspects, including consistency on the mound and throwing strikes. They’ve recently improved, and Phillips said he’s feeling more confident in his guys.
“I mean, I feel like we have done a lot better job on the mound in the last few games. We’ve competed every time, regardless of who we’ve called to the rubber,” Phillips said. “Again, we shoot ourselves in the foot sometimes with free passes, but we’ve learned, and this is where I’ve seen a lot of growth in the kids.”
Pitchers including Jamarion Robertson, Wade Johnston, and Wyatt Sims have proven to be reliable on the mound.
Phillips has seen his hitters take a consistent approach at the plate, limiting the number of strikeouts on offense, too. However, he’s based the entire team’s turnaround so far this season on its improvement from the bump.
“We’ve worked ourselves out of some jams from time to time, which we weren’t doing much at the beginning of the year, and I feel like we’re swinging the bat really well,” Phillips said. “Even when we surrender some runs, we often come back and get a few, which keeps us in the ballgame. So, we’ve just got to continue to compete, which is all I can ask of them right now.”
Putnam County has performed well on the diamond as the regular season approaches its conclusion in the next two weeks. The War Eagles have also established themselves as a dangerous team in a challenging region.
Putnam County recently competed against playoff-caliber teams like Jasper County, Lamar County, and Social Circle. The War Eagles lost more games than they won in those three series, but still proved to be competitive.
“I feel like we’re playing pretty well right now and we’re in a tough region,” Phillips said. “Social Circle, Jasper County, and Lamar County are all solid programs, so when you go through the meat of the region, you’ve got to be playing well, and I feel like we’ve given ourselves a chance to win a lot of the games.”
A few weeks ago, Social Circle, the overall No. 3-ranked team in Class A Division I, swept Putnam County. The War Eagles competed hard against a stingy Redskin squad; however, they secured 9-1, 14-5, and 13-5 wins.
Putnam County won one of three contests against Lamar County, securing a 7-4 victory after a tight 4-2 loss. The War Eagles ran out of pitching for game three, and the Trojans of Barnesville dominated with a 15-0 win.
Last week, Putnam County split a doubleheader with rival Jasper County. The two teams will play one more game this week to determine the series, and Phillips suggested game three will be the most important yet.
“We’ve played Jasper twice now,” Phillips said. “We had the lead in game one but surrendered it late, losing that one 8-7. Then we turned it around in the second game and walked it off to beat them 7-6. So, this will be a big game because it could decide whether we’re third or fourth [in the region], depending on the outcome.”
The War Eagles entered the week with a 7-14 overall record, but a 5-6 mark in Region 4 Class A Division I play.