Published: May 17, 2008 12:05 am            

JUSTIN GRAVES: Cats will be ready

You can’t put a price on big-game experience — especially in baseball and softball.

Cullman High’s baseball team proved this Friday in game one of the Class 5A state championship series.

Even though Cullman defeated Charles Henderson 13-10 in game one, the Bearcats found themselves in several sticky situations — watching the Trojans overcome a five-run deficit twice.

Cullman’s players admitted they were a little nervous when Charles Henderson was threatening to snatch victory out of the jaws of defeat. But even though the Bearcats were nervous, they never panicked.

So how could Cullman’s players hold their composure when everything appeared to be falling apart?

According to Cullman senior Matt Drake, the Bearcats didn’t panic because of their big-game experience.

Even though most of Cullman’s current starters played limited roles on last year’s state championship team, this year’s team has been in plenty of big games.

Bearcats coach Bryan Bowen made sure of that.

This year, Bowen’s team played one of the toughest regular season schedules in the state. And as if that wasn’t hard enough, Cullman had to beat three of the most talented teams in the state — Etowah, Pleasant Grove and Hartselle — just to reach the championship series.

So if Cullman’s players didn’t have big-game experience before the season started, then they do now.

“We’ve had a tough road to get here,” Drake said. “So we’ve been in games like this before. That experience pays off this time of year.”

Bowen expects his teams to compete for championships every year. That’s why the Bearcats coach tries to prepare his players for every possible scenario.

By working hard in practice and playing a grueling schedule, Cullman’s players have seen almost everything a team can throw at them. That’s probably why Bowen has had six teams play in the state finals in the last seven years.

Even though Cullman is relying on a whole new set of faces this year, Bowen has made sure they are prepared to play the championship.

If Cullman doesn’t win it all, it won’t be because of lack of preparation. This team is prepared for anything.

        

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