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| Wallace ready for state tournament play | 2008-05-09 |
| The day has finally arrived. Saturday, the Wallace Govs will open play in the 2008 Alabama Community College Conference Tournament. This year’s tournament is being held in Hanceville on the campus of Wallace-Hanceville. The Govs will open play Saturday at 7 p.m. against Jeff State of Birmingham. | |
| “The biggest thing we’ve got to do in this opening game is not be complacent,” Wallace coach Mackey Sasser said. “We played them last year in the opening game of the state tournament and we beat them pretty bad. But this is not the same Jeff State team. They are much improved.” The Govs finished second in the Southern Division. Sasser says he likes the spot the team is in. “Last year, I said the winner of the tournament would come out of that bracket. That turned out to be true as Shelton State ended up winning it. I think that will be the case this year. So what we’ve go to do in that first game is get ahead and stay ahead.” Should Wallace win its opening game, then the Govs won’t play again until Monday at 4 p.m. That’s why Sasser is so optimistic. Should the Govs lose they would turn around and play Sunday at noon. What most concerns Sasser is the team’s pitching. He’s going to start Dothan native Joseph Braswell in game one. Last week, the left-hander tossed a complete game against Alabama Southern. Starters for the other games have yet to be determined. “Our pitchers have got to get ahead, stay ahead, and throw strikes,” Sasser said. “A lot of times this year they have had trouble doing that. But most of the time our hitters have been able to bail us out.” This is a confident team headed into the state tournament. That’s because time and time again, the Govs have rallied from behind to win games. At no time was that more evident than in the series against Faulkner State when Ryan Reece hit back-to-back walk-off home runs that enabled the Govs to sweep an eventually finish in second place. “I think all of us are more confident this year,” Reece said who ended up hitting 15 homeruns this year. “I think we’re a better team this year, and we like our chances.” Reece only hit eight home runs last year. Another player who greatly improved his home run total is Brett Chamberlain. The starting catcher did hit a single home run last season. This year, he hit seven. “I’m really looking forward to the state tournament,” Chamberlain said. “I’m looking forward to winning it and then going on to the World Series in Grand Junction.” Joining the Govs at the state tournament will be L.B. Wallace of Andalusia. The Saints were the last team to make into the tournament when they won a play-in game. LBW will play today at 4 p.m. against the host team, Wallace-Hanceville. | |
| © Wallace Community College |
