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SEB drops tune up
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    BROOKLET — Not having made the state playoffs since 2001, the Southeast Bulloch Yellow Jackets had their focus on the first-round opponent — No. 1 seed Cook High School. Fortunately for the Toombs County Bulldogs (13-12), SEB forgot about the last regular-season game.
    The Jackets committed eight errors and plated just three runs as the Bulldogs closed out their season with a 19-3 win Friday in Brooklet
    “I’ll take the full blame for this game right here,” said Southeast Bulloch coach Stephen Hoyle. “I didn’t get the guys focused with the intensity that we needed to come into this game with. I think we looked past this game, so I’ll take the credit for this loss.”
    Southeast Bulloch had seemingly picked up a head of steam approaching the state tournament, winning seven out of the last eight with the only loss coming in a 6-4 decision to No. 1 seed (Region 3-AA) Westside.
    The stretch included wins over playoff-bound Screven County and Swainsboro. The wheels came off against the Bulldogs, who will sit at home for the playoffs.
    “We can build from this and learn from this,” Hoyle said. “It shows what we need to do to get better. We had a mental breakdown tonight. We had more errors in this six-inning game than we had in the last seven or eight ballgames combined.”
    The bright spot for the Jackets was leadoff hitter Tony Raymond, who was flawless in the outfield and finished 2-for-2, walking once and crossing the plate once as well.
    Toombs did most of its damage in the first and last innings, plating 17 combined runs in the frames. Only nine of TCHS’s 19 runs were earned.
    Bulldog pitcher Neil Rodgers (1-for-2, HBP, 2 R, 2 RBIs) went the distance on the mound, allowing six SEB hits and striking out four. The Toombs season ended with a five-game winning streak. Four of those wins were shortened by the run rule.
    “We came out of the gate this year, and we struggled a little bit defensively,” said TCHS coach Brian Fitzgerald. “It kind of put us behind the eight ball. You’ve got to give credit to our kids. They didn’t quit on us and they kept fighting.”
     The Yellow Jackets (14-10, 9-4) will head into the unknown next Friday in round one of the state playoffs. No SEB player on the current roster has any playoff experience, so when they board the bus for the four-hour trip to Adel, they won’t know what to expect.
    “I think there’s a lot of unknown for these guys,” said Hoyle. “They’ve never been in a hostile playoff environment. (Cook) has made it to the playoffs for the past 18 years and they have a big following. It’s our job as coaches to get the guys ready.”
    Cook’s long history of deep playoff runs could have been avoided in the first round for the Jackets, having tied with No. 3 seed Swainsboro, but a glance at the rulebook gave Southeast Bulloch the bottom seed.
    The rule states that when two teams are tied in the region standings, the higher seed goes to the team who allowed the fewest runs in games between the two squads.
    Swainsboro beat the Jackets 6-3, and SEB returned the favor with a 4-2 win. The two then-meaningless SHS runs in the second game came in the bottom of the final inning and gave the Tigers the edge in the matchup — and the higher seed.
    “It was huge when they did it, but at the time we didn’t realize it,” Hoyle said. “If we’d have known, we may have played it a little differently.”
    Southeast Bulloch will have a week to practice before traveling to Cook for the three-game series, where they will face the No. 2 team in the state (Class AA) and its ace Kaleb Cowart. The sophomore’s fast ball has been clocked in the low-to mid-90’s.
    Hoyle has not put his pitching rotation in stone quite yet.
    “I feel like we’ve got three guys who we can put out there that have the potential to win a ballgame, so we’re just going to have to strap it on,” said the SEB coach. “We’ll probably let David (McCarthy) go in the first game. We’ve been using him (and) he’s been our most solid starter. After that, we’ll just have to play it by ear.”

    Matt Yogus can be reached at (912) 489-9404.