So a summer of ups and downs has turned into something special.
Just when you thought it was freaking over.
I have enjoyed watching every single Macon Bacon home game this year and many of the road games, and after last Friday night I was fairly sure that their season would come to an end on sunday night in the first round of the CPL playoffs.
The Bacon looked like a Bacon grease fire on Friday night as they dropped a 10-1 decision to the team they were going to play in the playoffs on sunday. It would have been even worse but the rain came and they didn't play the last two innings.
Dam Savannah beat the Bacon again on Saturday and heading into that sunday playoff game the Bananas had won 11 of 12 games.
That's pretty damn hot.
But then sunday came.
It was like head coach Danny Higginbotham went out and got a brand new team, but it wasn't. It was the same guys who had struggled to score the last part of the season, but with a little more pep in their step. Its amazing what happens when kids really want to get a W.
Final Score Macon 7 Savannah 3
I give a lot of the credit to Higginbotham.
Let me tell you a little bit about a summer league coach.
He puts together a team that he thinks can compete for a championship and hopes to be able to keep it together for as long as he can. But what happens is the team that started the season usually isn't around by the end of the season. That is definitely the story for the Bacon. I am counting at least eight players that started the year and played huge roles for the Bacon that are not on the team at this point of the season. Some got hurt, some had pitching limitations for the summer, and some just agreed to half of the summer. But for whatever reason, Higginbotham has had to replace all of these guys with players that are still talented enough to beat Savannah in a one game playoff on a sunday night.
Mission Accomplished.
How does a coach replace MJ Rookard, Cal Gentry, Tristan Thomas, Cort Roedig, Roury Glanton, and Nathan Schreckengost just to name a few, and still advance to the second round of the playoffs?
Well friends Danny Higginbotham can talk an eskimo into moving to Central Florida and he has used that talent to get players to come to Macon to play baseball for a few weeks or months. He has simply done a remarkable job of putting a team together . These guys really do like each other and they play hard on most nights. They played very hard on sunday and that's why they are still playing.
Lets be honest the Bacon players are mostly between 19 to 21 years old. They have moments that maybe a game isn't the most important thing, especially on a Friday night when they could be out partying. I feel like we saw that a lot from last years team. But for the most part this year, the team has been focused on the task at hand and that was making a playoff run. I know for a fact that last years team was ready to go home by the time the playoffs came around but this years team plays like they want to win the thing. The credit goes to Higginbotham for putting together a team that came here to play baseball first and for the players he has been able to pick up halfway through the season.
So now the Macon Bacon come home in another win or go home scenario on Tuesday night. If they lose most Bacon players will leave town on Wednesday or Thursday, but if they win they play a best two of three series for the CPL championship. These kids made the choice to give up another week of their summer to try and win a championship and they deserve our support. I am urging this community to pack the damn stadium on Tuesday night and show the Bacon that we support them. I know I will be there.
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