The Houston County Bears are on a quest for their third championship in four years.
Their counter is back at 10 after ticking down to zero last year, when they became champions for the second time in three years.
The countdown from 10 is something Matt Hopkins and the Bears have done for a few years now. When they win a game, they drop a finger.
Paired with the countdown, Hopkins has a mantra HoCo has been following all season: Win two before you lose two.
“There’s 10 games, you just have to win 10. Our big thing that we talk about is win two before you lose two” Hopkins said. “That’s been our thing all year is just making sure no matter what happens, if you win two before you lose two you’re talking about a 20-10 season…that’s a really good year for most people, and you get to the playoffs and you win two before you lose two, you’re going to end up with a ring.”
After sweeping the region the two previous years, winning two out of three has been important for the Bears this season.
It didn’t net them the number one seed in the region because of losses in games they ‘should have’ won, but they’ve woken up to take every series they were a part of in region play this year.
Injuries hampered HoCo in the regular season, but according to Hopkins, they’re as healthy as they’ve been all year heading into the postseason.
“[We’re] healthier than we’ve been…Even some of our guys that were playing a good bit were a little bit banged up and they’re starting to get back to what seems like full strength,” he said.
Getting Carson Small back for the first time since the first game of the season is a big addition to a pitching rotation that’s been stretched thin this season. There are a few other rotation pieces who are still question marks according to Hopkins.
To get through another postseason run, the young Bears will have to lean on upperclassmen. Eli Stephens, the emotional leader of the team, was one Hopkins mentioned specifically.
“This’ll be his fourth playoff run…most of his experience comes as a sophomore and as a junior. So you’ll lean on him,” Hopkins said. “Carson Small is another one, he’s pitched some really big games…and you combine that with guys like Vick Gann, a lot of experience. Hopefully everybody can just kind of pull off of that because the playoffs are just completely different. You know that if you don’t play well that day, you’re done. So you have to rely on those guys to keep their emotions in check and make sure we stay focused on what we need to do.”
UP NEXT
The Bears begin their quest on Thursday, April 25 in a doubleheader at home against North Atlanta starting at 4:30 p.m. A potential game three will be on Friday, April 26 at 5 p.m.
