With the completion of spring break, roughly three weeks of play remain in high school baseball's regular season.

While that's well past the midway point of the season, it's still a good
time to take a little inventory.

Sure, there's still plenty of ball left to be played, especially with
several Gwinnett teams that will eventually find their way into their
respecitve classification's state playoffs.

However, I'll go out on a limb and make a few, albeit premature, picks for
a few postseason superlatives. A quick disclaimer to protect me from looking even more foolish than I probably will already: All of this could radically change by the time the final out is made.

Team of the year will have to wait until after the season is fully over,
so let's start with the three individual awards the Daily Post gives out
every year.

Player of the Year - Chase Hawkins, Brookwood. As good and deep as as the
Broncos have been in staying the Georgia-bound left-handed pitcher/first
baseman has been the guiding force in his team's ascension to the top of the Region 8-AAAAA standings and Class AAAAA state rankings. He's been as
dominant on the mound (7-0, 1.08 ERA, 49 K in 39 IP) as he has been at the
plate (.512, 1 HR, 11 RBIs), and he's done it as Brookwood has taken on one
of Georgia's toughest schedules.

Pitcher of the Year - Grayson Garvin, Wesleyan. The Vanderbilt signee's
numbers are pretty close to those of Hawkins (pending update), though his
hitting stats may be a little skewed due to the small dimensions of the
Wolves' home park, Donn Gaebelein Field. However, the same dimensions also
make the lefty's pitching numbers look that much impressive. And he's been
pretty close to unhittable most of the season.

Coach of the Year - This is a little tougher choice. Not to diminish the
job done by Brookwood's Rick Howard, Wesleyan's Mike Shaheen or Mill Creek's Doug Jones, but let's face it, both had a lot of talent returning and had fairly high expectations heading into the season because of that.

And there are a handful of others you can make a very strong case for.

Central Gwinnett's Chris Hays has guided his team to already surpass last
year's win total and has the Black Knights in strong contention for their
first postseason berth in several years. Providence Christian's Adam
Cantrell has seen his team grow from a pretty good team into one battling
traditional powerhouses Eagle's Landing Christian and Landmark Christian for the top spot in always tough Region 5-A. And Norcross' Andy Collins has kept his team together through several injuries and has the Blue Devils in
contention for the postseason in Region 7-AAAAA.

My choice, however, is Hebron Christian's Heath Kennedy. Granted, he's had
the luxury of having last year's county hitting leader, Bobby Cole,
returning, plus the addition of dynamic newcomers like Danny Lockhart and
Jamie Holt. But he's also gotten a team that won only four games all of last year to believe in itself enough to nearly triple that total this year and put itself in good position for a playoff berth.

Now, a few of my own early awards.

Top Newcomer - Danny Lockhart, Hebron. Yes, the freshman infielder may not
have faced the kind of competition his counterparts on Class AAAAA (or even
Class AA) teams have faced, but the impact he's had in the Lions' rise this
season has been huge.

Comeback Player of the Year - Danny Sekerak, Central. After giving up
baseball for a year, the Black Knights' senior has rediscovered his swing
and has also helped them defensively in at least three different positions.

Most Under the Radar - Tie: Wyatt Brown, North Gwinnett and Tommy Yeo,
Collins Hill. Brown doesn't always get talked about the same way as those
like Hawkins or Garvin or much of Mill Creek's rotation, but the Bulldogs'
right-hander is as tough to hit as anyone in the county. Meanwhile, Yeo has
been perhaps the most consistant bat for an up-and-down Eagles team this
year, and always seems to hit the ball hard.

Well, that's the way I see it. Now let's hear what you think. Am I in the
strike zone or a little off base or way out in left field?