By CURTIS ROCKWELL/Sports Director

PEARL — Last season, George County captured its first state baseball championship in 27 years thanks in part to a solid pitching staff.

This season, as the Rebels try and capture back-to-back state titles on the diamond for the first time ever in school history, veteran head coach Brandon Davis once again will rely on a group of moundsmen that returned almost fully intact from last year.

George County and Saltillo face off in game one Tuesday night for the Class 6A state championship at 7 p.m., Tuesday night.

“They have given us a chance to win in most of our games,” Davis, in his 14th year at the helm of his hometown Rebels, said before practice on Monday. “We feel we have a real good chance of winning at the end of games if we are within a couple runs.”

The only pitcher that departed after last years title-winning run for the Rebels was ace Andrew Nielsen, who was the most productive starting hurler for GCHS.

However, Preston McAdory, who was the number two guy for Davis on the hill for much of last season, quickly stepped up to assume the role of number one and for the most part the Rebels haven’t missed a beat.

McAdory is 7-4 this season with a miniscule 1.15 earned run average. He is expected to get the nod from Davis against the Tigers in game one Tuesday night.

He went 7-0 last season and was also on the mound last year in game one of the title tilt in a 3-2 win over Warren Central. He earned the win, working six solid stanzas striking out five, walking four and scattering five hits.

Carson Pierce is expected to get the start for GCHS in game two, as he has done in every three game series for the Rebels over the past two months. He is 6-3 on the season in 13 appearances with two complete games, the same number as McAdory.

In addition, senior standout side-winding reliever Canyon Reeves has established himself as one of the best closers in the state over the past two seasons and he will be counted upon heavily once again this week by Davis as well.

Reeves is 5-0 with five saves in 23 appearances. He has also started two games, including tossing a complete game performance in a game three win over West Jones in the Class 5A South State Seifinals.

Last year, Reeves went 7-0 with seven saves, and recorded both a save in game one and a win in game two in the state championship series.

McAdory and Pierce have been great as starters this year and Canyon has been Canyon!” Davis added. “McAdory is the ace but Carson has thrown like a ‘1B’.”

In addition to that terrific trio, the Rebels have gotten some key contributions on the hill from both Brayden Havard and newcomer Chandler Cameron this season.

Havard, in fact, was ticketed to be the number two starter coming into the season sandwiched between McAdory and Pierce but suffered an injury early on that pushed him back a bit. Still, he managed to start all five game three’s for GCHS in Region 4-6A play and he came on to pick up the win in the South State series clinching win against PRC with several solid innings of relief work.

It marked the second year in a row that Havard picked up the win to eliminate the Blue Devils in the Class 6A South State finals.

In addition to Havard, who is 2-1 in nine appearances this year, Cameron is 3-0 in nine outings of relief in his first year of varsity work. He came on to earn the win in game one against PRC, tossing a clean sixth inning and he was the benefactor of the three run Rebel rally in the bottom of that frame that erased a 2-1 deficit and turned it into a 4-2 win.

Reeves came on an earned a save, throwing the seventh.

Davis indicated at the time that Cameron’s inning of work was a key because that allowed the Rebels to utilize Reeves again in game two if necessary.

Which they did as he relieved Pierce and worked almost two innings in game two before Havard came on to get the win with two frames of scoreless work.

“They both have gave us some quality innings at crucial times,” Davis said, of Havard and Cameron.

And the Rebel mentor just hopes that continues for all of his pitching staff at least one more week.