Jenkins County will be making a long trip today — and possibly a trip back in time.
    The Eagles (10-13) will depart from Millen at 8:30 a.m. and ride over four hours to face Lanier County (17-7).
    According to JC coach Wendell Clark, the Bulldogs are a blast from the past.
    “They love to bunt,” he said. “They try and out the pressure back on you. They do a lot of bunts, bunt and steal, bunt and run — they got three or four guys that bunt/slap almost every other at-bat. I hadn’t seen that bunt/slap in a long time. In the old days if someone would do that you’d throw it right between their eyes.”
    It’s not likely that will happen today. But offense could be the name of the game for both teams. Clark said Lanier’s two pitchers mimic the stylings of neighbor and rival Claxton.
    “It could happen any better for our kids,” said Clark. “The first (pitcher) is almost identical to the (Harley) Hendrix kid over at Claxton. The other kids is just like (Claxton’s Matt) Rogers. That’s what helped us tremendously is I’ve been setting the pitching machine on about their speeds. We’ve had four great practices and I’m excited about it.”
    Being the No. 4 seed, it’s inevitable the Eagles will face questions about being an underdog and attempting to pull of the upset. Clark said he’s tried to avoid mentioning any of those cliches.
    “I’ve kind of stayed away from it a little bit,” he said. “We lost a total of six our region games by a total of 11 runs. Yeah, we’re No. 4, but we don’t look at ourselves as No. 4. It’s really just two good teams going at each other.”
    Jenkins will start Aaron Comstock, then go with either Will Bragg or Ethan Conway pending the outcome of Game One. Clark said the difference in the series will likely come down to the bullpen, where the Eagles are lacking experience.
    The doubleheader starts at 3 p.m. and Saturday’s game will be played at 2 p.m. if necessary.

    Chad Bishop can be reached at (912) 489-9408.