By CURTIS ROCKWELL/Sports Director

Vancleave’s Justin Edwards is leading his Bulldogs into his first-ever appearance as a head coach in the overall state baseball championship round.

Meanwhile, veteran George County mentor Brandon Davis is headed for his seventh trip to the state title tilt and fourth in two different classes with the Rebels in the past decade alone.

However, both the old pro and the young guard are facing something different together as both squads prepare to head to Trustmark Park in Pearl next week to vie for their respective state crowns. And that’s that both are facing over a week-long layoff during the season for the first time ever in their coaching careers.

“Never, but it’s needed,” Davis chuckled, when asked Thursday about what will be an eight day lay-off for his Rebels before they play again. George County will face off with Warren Central in game one of the Class 6A state championships with game one of the best of three series set for Wednesday at 4 p.m., in the home of the Class AA Mississippi Braves.

“But really just stay with the routine that got us to this point,” Davis, in his 13th year guiding his alma mater, added. “This team I’m not worried about. We have some things we need to work on, little things.”

Edwards is basically taking the same approach as his Bulldogs prepare to meet Lafayette for the Class 5A state title after what will be an 11 day lay-off before his squad takes the field at 7 p.m., Wednesday night just after George County.

“We have had to make some adjustments in our day to day preparations,” Edwards, in his sixth season at the helm of the Bulldogs said. “Pitchers and hitters alike do not need that many days without seeing live game action, so we have two scrimmages scheduled for Thursday and Monday to get those live reps. This is also a good opportunity to go back and make sure your situations like first and thirds, bunt defense, picks, rundowns, and cuts and relays are clean and ready for action. Other than that, it’s fairly similar to our day-to-day mid-season.”

Vancleave faced a four day lay-off in mid-February and George County was off for five days around the same time. That came just prior to the two teams meeting in a home-and-home, two-game series which the Rebels swept winning game one 4-0 in Vancleave before taking game two 4-1 back home at Claude Passeau Field.

“We have some talented young pitchers and we also have Andin Bolen, a left handed pitcher headed to the University of Mobile who is coming to throw to us so we can see a lefty similar to what we will see against Warren Central,” Davis added. 

George County wrapped up the completion of its rubber match against Pearl River Central with a delayed 12-1 win on Tuesday. Vancleave, on the other hand, swept South Jones over the weekend including an 8-1 win in game two on Saturday to seal the deal and earn the trip to Pearl.

“I wouldn’t say I have concerns, I’d say that we are simply trying to keep the focus where it belongs,” Edwards concluded. “And that is preparing to play good baseball. There is a lot more planning and details to focus in on when traveling to Pearl for a few days. There is graduation, meals, hotels, pregame batting practice, and a practice to plan out. These are things you don’t have to put so much thought and effort into during the rest of the season. But it’s certainly a good problem to have to deal with.”

In the end, the wily and grizzled veteran Davis summed the situation up in his own charming and humorous way, however, when making note that Warren Central, like Vancleave, swept its North State series and has been off since Saturday.

“The other team has a longer layoff than us,” Davis concluded, with a chuckle.