When Southeast Bulloch’s J.D. Smith took the hill in Sylvania on Tuesday, the task at hand was clear. Win, and the Yellow Jackets would take the sub-region title and strike a blow to their chief rivals in Screven County. Lose, and the road to the state playoffs would get much tougher.
    As he has done all season, the Jackets’ senior ace came through for his team. Smith was on top of his game all night, dealing a complete game and striking out eight Screven batters as SEB clinched the sub-region with a 6-2 victory.
    “As a senior, that’s what I looked forward to,” Smith said. “I wanted to be out there. Going into the game, I was excited and a little nervous, but I knew that I had a good defense behind me. We all just settled in and took care of business.”
    SEB clinched home-field advantage for its region playoff against Dublin, which finished fourth in the opposite sub-region and has struggled.
    “That’s definitely the easier road to travel,” Smith said of facing the 4-17 Fighting Irish. “But we still have to play well. We know where we want to go this season and we’ll have to play our best the rest of the way no matter who we’re playing.”