EXTRA INNINGS: A brief look back and the emotional buildup of Houston County’s championship rematch

There are a lot of emotions involved in a championship game.

That was the lede in my game story of Houston County’s 5A state championship series against Newnan in 2025. For those that don’t remember, it was an absolutely stunning loss for the Bears, who I believe were the best team in the state of Georgia that year.

They’d gone on the road and ended Pope’s nine-year semifinals streak. They’d beaten Loganville, who at the time had three-peated twice since 2017.

But at the end of the year they were left empty handed. Yes, they had a region championship, but when you go through a playoff gauntlet like they did you want to end with more.

Head coach Matt Hopkins admitted after the state championship loss he had no idea what he or the team were in for emotionally. During the baseball banquet in 2023 (their fourth state championship win) he said he’d cried so much he could barely speak.

A year later HoCo was set to face them again with four players returning: Raymond Byrd, Tyson Ganas, Ethan Kenney and Isaiah Galason. Peyton Nauss was also a pinch runner in the series.

For Hopkins last year’s series was ancient history long before the first pitch of Friday’s second round doubleheader. But it’s definitely different for teenage boys.

“There is that thing in the back of your head, that we lost to this team last year and they took what we wanted,” Hopkins said. “How are you going to respond? … I thought a couple of our guys that started last year were actually tight in the first game, trying to do too much.”

Galason was responsible for the Bears’ two errors in Game 1 on errant throws he doesn’t usually make. Hopkins talked with him in the middle of the fourth inning.

“I thought his approach at the plate was a little different, too, than it normally was,” Hopkins said. “I just told him to calm down. Settle down, settle into his approach and do what he needed to do and find a way.”

Galason did settle in after that. The Cougars weren’t eager to throw him strikes, so he was 0-for-2 with a walk and strikeout in Game 1. In Game 2 he finished 2-for-2 with three runs scored, two RBI and one walk.

Hopkins made note that he didn’t notice those four getting nervous throughout the week.

“I think we were good all week,” Hopkins said. “I kept reiterating, and I think the exact phrase I said to them was, ‘I don’t care if we win on Friday, they’re not giving the ring back from last year. But we can win Friday and try to win one this year.’ It was all about focusing on the now and making sure we understood that we’re two different teams.”

They were able to shake their nerves, and they had other players make new connections to the Cougars. Mostly Kaiden Harvey, who walked off Game 1 with a double. Peyton Nauss had a good series, too.

Failure isn’t always a bad thing; sometimes life’s best lessons come paired with the sting of a loss.