Spring Break
Diamond Dogs ready to 'tackle' Florida
RYNE DENNIS
Issue date: 5/1/09 Section: Sports
|
That's what the Georgia baseball team has been mired in the past week after losing to Jacksonville State twice and dropping two of three games in its series at Ole Miss last weekend.
No one person is culpable, but it's something the Diamond Dogs are hopeful of breaking out of this weekend at Foley Field against Florida.
"[We're] trying to get back to playing our type of baseball," junior Rich Poythress said. "We haven't been making the plays we're capable of on defense, we've been walking a lot of guys and haven't had the offensive production that we need to have, so we need a total regrouping and get back to what we do best."
One good thing for Georgia is it's still right in the thick of the hunt for the SEC title, despite its struggles.
The players who have been through stretches like this before will be key to breaking out of it, head coach David Perno said.
"It's all about leadership this time of year," Perno said. "Your leadership and guys at the top have got to do some special things … and they have been, that's why we're in this position."
But the Diamond Dogs' recent spotty play isn't something Perno is too concerned about. He quickly noted his past three College World Series teams all had their struggles.
"I've never been part of a team that didn't go through a stretch like this," he said. "In [2004] we were 5-9 in league play at one point ... In [2006] we were 7-11 in league play at one time and made our run there, and last year we started out 6-7. Hopefully we've hit rock bottom for this team and start heading in a different direction."
For the players Perno refers to as his leaders, nothing would alleviate their pains more than beating the Gators.
"Both years I have been here we've lost the series against them," Poythress said. "Especially guys that were on the team last year, we would like to redeem ourselves as far as that goes."
It's not just the veterans of the team, however, who want to end the slump against Florida. Freshman Levi Hyams is no novice when it comes to Georgia's biggest rival.
"My dad's a big Dogs fan, and my uncle's a big Dogs fan, but he married a Florida fan, so it's big," Hyams said.
"We're very aware of what's going on, so we know it's a big series and we're ready to tackle it."
Be the first to comment on this story