By allowing ads to appear on this site, you support the local businesses who, in turn, support great journalism.
Tigers off to rough start
Placeholder Image
The Tigers suffered yet another heart wrenching defeat (15-4) at the hands of the Wayne County Yellow Jackets Saturday afternoon.
Dustin Belleti started as the Tigers pitcher but within two innings the Yellow Jackets already had 8 hits and scored 12 runs. Kentrell Hargrove came in to pitch inning 2 through 5 with DeAnte Day finishing on the mound for the Tigers.
The two bright spots for the Tigers were a homerun by Belletti in the third and a homerun with two on base by Day in the sixth.
But the Yellow Jackets finished strong with 14 hits, scoring 15 runs by the sixth inning, stinging the Tigers with their fifth straight loss.
Tiger coach Rhett Hellgren said as far as he is concerned the official start of the season is today as the Tigers head to Camden County to face the Wildcats in their first regional game.
"This is what we play for," he said. "Everything before this was pre-season. We need to be ready to play."
Camden is considered the 3-AAAAA regional powerhouse and posted a 29-8 overall record and were undefeated (14-0) in the region last year.
The Tigers are trying to turn their program around after two losing seasons and have the players and talent to do so.
It is the confidence and mental factor that Hellgren is working on. Last season the Tigers posted a 2-16 overall record according to georgiasports.com, the Georgia High School Association's official site for prep sports.
Hellgren said at the beginning of the season his players lacked intensity and often relaxed if they took a slight lead.  The Tiger coach has his work cut out for him as they face Camden, but will get a little reprieve with a few non-regional games. The Tigers' true test starts March 25 when they start a series against four regional opponents; Beach, Johnson, Jenkins and Groves.

Sign up for our e-newsletters