 | | | 3/28/2008 12:01:00 AM | Email this article • Print this article | Broncos blast way to No. 1
By David Friedlander
Staff Writer
Brookwood's ascent to the No. 1 ranking in the GaSports.com/GACA's Class AAAAA baseball rankings isn't a huge surprise to most statewide observers.
After all, the Broncos came into the season returning almost every starting position player from a team that came within a run in both games of the state semifinal series of playing for last season's state championship.
The manner in which Brookwood has climbed to the top is a bit more surprising.
The Broncos - who take a 10-1 overall record into tonight's 7 p.m. game against No. 8 Mill Creek - have run roughshod over their opponents so far this season, winning their games by an average of nearly 51⁄2 runs per game.
And they've done it against what is widely considered one of the toughest schedules of any team in Georgia.
"Our philosophy has been - and (former Brookwood and current Mill Creek coach) Doug Jones started this - to play the toughest (teams) you can," Broncos coach Rick Howard said. "Win or lose, when you play competitive programs, you know when you come out, you're going to get better. And the number of competitive programs is growing. So, it's not like there's a small group to choose from.
"But we've been fortunate to catch some people between region games."
Those strong opponents have found Brookwood to be even tougher this season, and it is the dominating fashion those wins have come in that has made the team's current run so impressive.
Ranked No. 13 nationally by Baseball America and No. 19 in the Easton Sports Coaches poll, the Broncos' list of victims reads like a who's who among the elite of prep baseball in the Southeast:
• Walton: The fourth-ranked Raiders are defending Class AAAAA state champions and started the season ranked as high as No. 7 by Baseball America (they are currently No. 10), but Brookwood took advantage of four errors to beat them 9-2 on March 17.
• Kennesaw Mountain: The Broncos got a little payback on the No. 5 Mustangs, who eliminated them in two one-run games in last year's playoffs, with a 15-2 rout behind 12 hits, including three by Seth Adkins and two by Chase Hawkins, and two RBIs by each.
• Greenbrier: Brookwood pounded the defending Class AAAA state champs (currently ranked No. 2) 16-1 last weekend as Jordan Erisman and Grayson Flack each had two hits - including a grand slam - Ryan Lewis was 2-for-3 with a home run and Hawkins and Ronnie Freeman each added two hits.
• Cartersville: The Broncos have beaten Class AAA's fifth-ranked team twice this season by scores of 4-3 and 10-3.
• Flanagan (Fla.): Brookwood touched up a team ranked No. 21 by Baseball America at the time, including staff ace R.J. Fondon, for a 15-4 win to kick off its run to the championship in the prestigious LaGrange Invitational.
• Nova (Fla.): A 3-0 victory over the No. 24 team in the nation behind a combined three-hit shutout from Matt Adams, Cameron Hall and Michael Brown clinched the LaGrange title.
• Mill Creek: Brookwood opened the season by outlasting the eighth-ranked Hawks 10-8 and face a rematch with them tonight.
"We thought we'd have a chance to win most of these games, but maybe not this big," said senior infielder Erisman, who is tied for the team lead with three home runs, is second with a .440 batting average and has driven in seven runs so far this season. "When we went to LaGrange and went 3-0, we realized we're just as good as anybody.
"We know we're going to be targets now, but that just gives us extra motivation."
The impressive display of offensive power - paced by a lineup that includes Erisman, Adkins (.522, 2 HR, 9 RBIs), Ross Heffley (.348, 3 HR, 9 RBIs) and Freeman (.370, 1 HR, 9 RBIs) - has been a big factor in Brookwood's outburst.
But Adkins, who handles the Broncos pitching staff as the team's catcher, believes a bigger key has been the pitching staff, which was expected to struggle with the graduation of last year's ace Elliot Coor and closer Brent Hendrick.
However, Georgia-bound left-hander Hawkins (3-0, 1.78 ERA, 28 K, 20 IP) and right-handers Alex Beebe (2-0, 2.38, 20 K, 18 IP) and Brown (1-0, 3 saves, 0.00, 4 K, 6 IP) have stepped up to give the Broncos as much punch on the mound as they have at the plate.
"We lost a big part of our pitching staff from last year," Adkins said. "But a lot of guys have stepped up.
"Hawkins has a lot more movement and is hitting his spots better. Beebe's developed a change-up, and it's coming along well for him."
Beebe's efforts have been a particularly important after coming on strong in last year's playoffs to win some key games.
With an expanded repertoire that now includes the change-up, he has become even more important to a staff.
And Beebe is confident he and his teammate have even bigger and better things in front of them with the Region 8-AAAAA portion of the schedule set to begin next week.
"Things started coming together last year in the playoffs," Beebe said. "Now, we realize we have to focus for big games. (A lot of the team are) seniors now, so we've got to step up."
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Monday, August 04, 2008 
