Three Wiregrass teams compete in 2A baseball

DOTHAN, Ala. (WTVY) -- Three of the top eight teams in 2A baseball reside 35 miles between each other.

The G.W. Long rebels taking on St. Luke’s at home.

“When you play this time of year, you’re not you’re not going to play a slouch so we’re going to play people,” said Long head coach Drew Miller. “We know that, and we’re prepared for that and we just you know just take it a day at a time and see what happens.”

The Rebels know a thing or two about the big stage. They have made the state championship the past two seasons.

“It helps a lot it makes it not, obviously it’s a big deal, but it makes it we’ve been here before and we know do the right thing and not get too overwhelmed or anything like that,” said Long junior Cohen Pritchett.

On the other side of the bracket, area foe Ariton takes on former AISA powerhouse Pike Liberal Arts.

“The good thing is this bunch we’ve got they’ve been deep in the playoffs numerous times so I don’t think the lights will be too bright for either team,” said Ariton head coach Bob Pickett. “I think it’ll be a good series between both of us. What we got to do is just come out and play our game.”

Ariton looks to return to the semifinals for a third straight season.

“We’ve been here before we just got to execute and take care of business and make it to the state championship,” said Ariton senior Phenix Griffin. “Nobody is ready for it to end so we just have to come out and play week by week.”

Pike has had the Purple Cats number in 2023 beating them both times they’ve played.

“We’ve played with those guys for our whole lives,” said K.C. Bradford. “We know all them and they’re good guys and they’re good ballplayers and it’s very, very good for this community and surrounding areas to get to play them and play good baseball represent our community.”

Now the defending AISA champion is looking to assert their dominance in the AHSAA in year one.

“You know, it would be special especially for our seniors,” said Pike Liberal Arts head coach Will Austin. “You know, our seniors have been through a lot with the transition from AISA to Alabama high school and it hasn’t been an easy transition, especially in the football and the basketball seasons and you know, these kids work hard and we just got to take it one step at a time and play the game the right way and, you know, hope the pieces fall into place.”

Subscribe to our News 4 newsletter and receive the latest local news and weather straight to your email every morning. Get instant notifications on top stories from News 4 by downloading our mobile apps.

Copyright 2023 WTVY. All rights reserved.