BROOKLET – With region tournaments just around the corner, Southeast Bulloch softball is preparing to host its annual Diamond Day tournament today.
    The Lady Yellow Jackets (15-4, 7-0 Region 1-AAA) will welcome in Bryan County, Metter and Tattnall County for a full day of action beginning at 9 a.m.
    “This is always a fun day for us,” said SEB coach Aimee Civalier. “Everybody has some big games coming up soon. We’ll face some good competition in this tournament, but it’s nice to not have the same pressure as those big region games.”
    Bryan County will take on Metter in the first game of the day and will then stick around to play Tattnall County at 10:30 a.m. Southeast Bulloch gets into the mix with a game against Metter at Noon and finishes off the day at 1:30 p.m. against Tattnall – a game that might be replayed in a couple of weeks in the region championship.
    No playoff implications are on the line today, but the Jackets will be happy for the chance to host a trio of teams that seem bound for the postseason.
    In its seven sub-region victories, SEB has been dominant enough to put the mercy rule into effect six times. The games are certain to get harder in the near future. SEB plays Appling County — which it battled to a 2-0 win in their first meeting — Tuesday for the sub-region title.
    Heading into that showdown, the Jackets are ready to battle it out.
    “It’s always good to face tough competition in these tournaments,” said Civalier. “We need to get back into the rhythm of playing hard for seven innings.
    “I also like that we have the opportunity to play two very good teams back-to-back. In the playoffs, we have to be ready to play doubleheaders.”
    If the Jackets want to make a deep postseason run, today is a great time to make sure that their offense is on track. Last season, a team full of freshmen and sophomores were able to eek out two series wins in the state playoffs, but couldn’t generate enough offense at the Elite Eight.
    SEB has been slugging away this season, averaging nine runs per game, but much of that production has come against the bottom of the sub-region. With an opportunity to face tougher pitchers today, the Jackets are looking to prepare themselves for the type of pitching they’ll need to hit to be successful in October.
    “I think we all learned a lot last year,” said SEB shortstop Effie Manahan. “We realized what we need to do to get to the top. I think we’ve all improved, so now we’re looking forward to the chance to prove it against the best teams.”
    All games in today’s tournament will run on a time limit of one hour, thirty minutes.
    SEB will be looking to improve on last season’s Diamond Days results when the Jackets tied both Metter and Tattnall County.

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