 | | | 5/30/2008 12:01:00 AM | Email this article • Print this article |  | Staff Photo: Benjamin Hager
Brookwood seniors, from left, Chase Hawkins, Jordan Erisman, Alex Beebe, Grayson Flack, Jonathan Robinson, Ryan Lewis, Seth Adkins, Buddy Jones and Ross Heffley prepare to play their final series in a career that dates back to youth baseball. |
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Longtime Broncos
Seniors’ ties go back to youth ball
By David Friedlander
Staff Writer
SNELLVILLE - As they were growing up together, Brookwood seniors Jonathan Robinson and Jordan Erisman shared a dream about their baseball careers when they got older.
So, it might seem that with the Broncos playing for the Class AAAAA state championship against defending champion Walton beginning this afternoon, their dream might be on the verge of becoming reality.
Well, sort of.
"We were kids. We were talking about (winning) the World Series," Robinson said with a laugh. "But we also said when we got to high school, we're going to do something special."
Robinson and Erisman have that chance, along with the rest of the Brookwood seniors, who will be playing their last games together as a group in the series.
And they hope they will go out with a bang. Call it a 'senior moment.'
No matter what the outcome, the series will mark the end of a long journey for the Broncos' nine seniors - Robinson, Erisman, Seth Adkins, Alex Beebe, Grayson Flack, Chase Hawkins, Ross Heffley, Buddy Jones and Ryan Lewis.
Eight of them have played together off and on since they began with the Georgia Broncos travel ball program while they were still in elementary school.
For some, the ties of friendship go back even further.
"Me and Jordan joke about how we're 'cul-de-sac buddies,' since we were always playing ball on the same cul-de-sac since we were kids," Robinson said. "I think we were even born in the same hospital. So, I've known him ever since I've been able to breathe."
Even the lone exception, Lewis, has been part of the group on the periphery nearly as long.
"I've know Seth since we were really little," said Lewis, who played against most of the group in travel ball while with the Atlanta Lightning. "I met Ross in middle school, and I was familiar with most of the rest of the guys when we played travel ball.
"I knew we'd eventually be going to the same high school, and I knew those other guys had great records (while with the Georgia Broncos). But I didn't know how great we'd be."
As it turns out, the group's accomplishments coming up through the youth ranks gave a hint of what was to come.
The future Brookwood Broncos won many games locally and within Georgia, and even competed well on a national level, including traveling to Minnesota for the AAU National Championship in 2002 and the USSSA National tournament in North Carolina a year later.
And there were other moments, like a game between the Georgia Broncos and Lewis' Lightning that stands out with Robinson.
"We were playing each other in one tournament, and (Lewis) was playing center field and I hit a home run over his head," Robinson remembered. "The next inning, I was playing left field and he hit a home run over my head. I thought to myself, 'If we could just get him on our team ..."
It wasn't until their freshman year that the entire group fully formed together at Brookwood, and the individual members soon began to realize big things might be in store for them over the next four years.
After losing just one game during the freshman team's season in the spring, the group really began to blossom that summer.
With all of the freshmen moved up to the Broncos' junior varsity team, varsity coach Rick Howard decided to challenge the group by entering them in several summer tournaments - including some against varsity competition.
The Brookwood youngsters more than held their own against older competition, even winning a tournament in Carrollton, beating varsity teams from Gainesville and Villa Rica in the process.
That success instilled a lot of confidence in them as they one-by-one began to work their way on to the varsity team the following spring.
"Chase was the only one not with us, and that was the first time we'd played out of our age group," Robinson recalled. "Once we won the (Carrollton) tournament, we kind of said to ourselves, 'We could do something special if we stay on track.'"
If the group's ambition didn't help keep things on track, the close friendship of each individual did.
"Everybody wants what best for the team," Jones said. "And we all know our roles. The most important thing to us is winning. We all know what we're capable of in a tight situation, and we trust what every one can do."
That tight-knit chemistry created by the class' friendship was not lost on Howard.
"That nucleus has held together, and it's not just about their ability," Howard said. "There's not only a will to win there, but they've known each other a long time. So, their personalities make a good mix. Even with Lewis, who didn't play travel ball on the same team, they accepted him. When Ronnie Freeman came up to the varsity last year as a sophomore, they accepted him as someone who loves to win the same as they do."
Once they moved up to the varsity team, the group did plenty of winning. Brookwood won 18 games and qualified for the state playoffs during the group's sophomore season.
A year ago, the Broncos improved to 27-9, won the Region 8-AAAAA championship and advanced all the way to the state semifinals before bowing out to eventual state runner-up Kennesaw Mountain in two one-run games.
The last goal on the radar is a state title, though win or lose, the seniors know they are in their last days as teammates.
Soon, the group will disperse toward their respective colleges. Hawkins is the most high profile of the group, headed to the University of Georgia's nationally-ranked program, though all of the others will attempt to continue their careers on the next level. Adkins (Gulf Coast Community College), Beebe (Piedmont), Erisman (North Georgia), Heffley (South Georgia), Jones (Southern Polytechnic) and Lewis (Columbus State) have all signed at least partial scholarships, while Robinson (Georgia Southern) and Flack (Georgia College and State University) will attempt to walk on.
And all of the seniors acknowledge it will be tough to say goodbye.
"It's going to be really weird," Jones admitted. "All of us have been playing together so long. I know I'm going to look over at second base and expect to see Ross there."
That sense of closure hasn't sunk in for Howard yet, though he knows it will, and he knows the group of nine seniors will be tough to replace - or forget.
"It will probably hit me when we start summer ball next week," Howard said. "As coaches, we'll have to go back and teach some things we've taken for granted the past few years.
"I really don't like to think about it. We've established some great relationships with those kids."
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Saturday, August 02, 2008 
