Shelley: Baseball? In this county? Surely you jest.

I’m usually a little preoccupied with things I shouldn’t be preoccupied with.

If it’s not fall, I’m still thinking about football. And admittedly, that’s a bit of a disservice to all the kids in this county that excel at a sport other than football.

Well, something caught my eye this week. Something that I—and I’m guessing a lot of others—wouldn’t have expected.

There are six dominant baseball and softball teams in this county.

I said six and I said dominant in the same sentence when talking about the national spring sport in Randolph County.

In a county that prides itself on football, a county that is as preoccupied with football as I am most of the time, six area teams on the diamond are undefeated in area play.

Handley’s baseball team is 5-0, Handley’s softball team is 4-0, Woodland’s baseball team is 4-0, Woodland’s softball team is 5-0, Wadley’s baseball team is 3-0 and Wadley’s softball team is 3-0.

It is entirely possible that this county could see six area champions in baseball and softball.

I haven’t gone searching through the bound volumes of the Leader yet, but I would wager a Victoryland dollar that it’s never happened before.

And here’s the real kicker—it caught me completely off guard.

Here I am, the gatekeeper to all high school sports in Randolph County, and it took me until Tuesday, April 6 to realize how good these teams really are.

Granted there’s still a lot of baseball and softball to be played, and by the time you read this on Wednesday, one or more of these teams could have lost on Tuesday evening.

But six teams undefeated in area play? In football-centered Randolph County?

You’ve got to be kidding me.

Here’s another interesting tidbit. Of the eight teams on the diamond, I believe only one has been completely eliminated from the possibility of postseason play—Randolph County’s baseball team.

But even the Tigers have been a solid team at times this season. And again, by the time you read this, they could have played spoiler to the Bobcats’ perfect area record Tuesday.

Randolph County’s softball team has a chance to enter the postseason if they play to their capabilities in their area tournament.

In the past two years, the Lady Tigers have pulled an upset in that very tournament to enter the playoffs.

So if everything works out in the best scenario, seven county teams will still be playing after the regular season ends.

That’s pretty cool, if you ask me.

There has to be some kind of common denominator with these teams. What is it that causes these teams to be dominant in their area this season?

With high school baseball you don’t have to look much farther than the mound.

All of these teams have seen some excellent pitching this year.

Ryan Siskey and Koty Tobin at Wadley, Austin Fetner, Trae Johnson, Leandro Velazquez and Morgan Parmer at Handley, Andrew Burroughs, Riley Murphy and Jessica Smith at Woodland. All of these teams have solid pitching.

Of course you have to put the bat on the ball to score the runs, but when you have solid pitching at the high school level, you’re already a step ahead of the competition.

Last week, I was looking forward to spring football. I was getting all geared up for a sport that won’t kick off for another four months.

After a closer look, though, maybe I’ll keep the helmets and pads in the closet of my mind for a little longer.