With last week’s dramatic comeback win over Evans clinching it a spot in the Region 2-AAAA baseball playoffs this weekend, all that was left for Statesboro High School's regular season was to wrap things up with a win on Senior Night.
    That’s just what the Blue Devils did as they rolled to a 4-1 victory over Tattnall County on Wednesday night at a soggy Mill Creek Regional Park. Before the game, seven SHS seniors were honored before playing their final game in front of the home crowd.
    “It’s great for us to be able to win one in our seniors’ last home game,” SHS coach Jim Simmons said. “They have worked very hard over their careers and deserved to be recognized and get a win tonight.”
    A quartet of those seniors started a first-inning rally that provided the winning margin early.
    Leading off the first for SHS, Haydon Rollins singled to left and moved up to second when Kendrick Thompson was hit by a pitch. Justin Mee laid down a perfect sacrifice bunt to advance the runners and Rollins scored after Tattnall threw the ball away. Two pitches later, Lance Mangrum lofted a sacrifice fly to center that brought in Thompson.
    “We got hits and made plays when we had to tonight,” Simmons said. “A big part of winning baseball games is just doing the little things correctly at the right times.”
    The pair of runs was all the Devils’ pitching staff needed.
    Staying loose before Statesboro’s upcoming region playoff, D.J. Grimes tossed a scoreless first before giving way to Sean Blakely. The senior lefty pitched three more scoreless frames to pick up the win, and junior Quentin Watson allowed just a single run over the final three innings to record the save.
    “All of our pitchers were throwing well,” Simmons said. “We weren’t at our best on defense, but our pitching really came through and got some big outs to get out of jams.”
    The celebratory nature of Senior Night now fades to seriousness as the postseason awaits the Devils. As the No. 4 seed out of the north sub-region of Region 2-AAAA, Statesboro travels to south sub-region champion Ware County for a best-of-three series to earn a trip to the state playoffs.
    Game 1 is scheduled for 3 p.m. Friday with the second game following immediately after. If necessary, Ware County will host the decisive third game Saturday.

    Mike Anthony can be reached at (912) 489-9404.