VALDOSTA — After a 21-6 season, it’s time for the Lowndes baseball team to bring its bats to the crucial part of the season, in the Class AAAAA playoffs.

The Region 1 champs earned a bye for the first round of the playoffs and host Brunswick in a double-header starting at 5 p.m. today.

The Vikings enter the first two games of a three-game series behind starters JonMichael Redding and Chris Mederos on the mound.

“They’ve both thrown well all year,” Lowndes coach Danny Redshaw said. “We like their chances. If they pitch well and we play solid baseball and hit the baseball behind them, we feel like we have a good chance.”

Supplying a large portion of the offense will be No. 3 hitter Matt Harper.

Harper was recently named the Class AAAAA, Region 1 co-athlete of the year along with Tift County’s Israel Troupe for his efforts on both the baseball diamond and the football field.

“It’s a great honor,” Harper said. “I feel happy to earn that honor. There were a lot of other guys who deserved it. I’m happy I got it.

“I just tried my hardest and stayed after and worked to be a better player.”

With the Vikings’ baseball team, Harper has amassed a batting average of .559 with seven home runs, 25 RBI, 27 runs and an on-base percentage of .630 and a 1.031 slugging percentage.

While playing tight end and line backer for the state championship Vikings football team, Harper was an all-region first team member with six catches for 126 yards and two touchdowns as well as leading the team in tackles.

“He deserved it,” Redshaw said. “He’s a tremendous athlete, a good student and a fine young man.

“He’s got a bright future in front of him. That’s a big award for him.”

Even though the senior starred in both sports for the Vikings, in college Harper will focus mainly on baseball, his favorite sport of the two.

“The sky’s the limit baseball wise for him,” Redshaw said. “Once he starts playing the sport year-round, he’s got a high ceiling potential wise and he can go a long ways in baseball.”

Harper will need to keep his bat hot along with the rest of his teammates if the Vikings are going to go a long way in the 2006 state playoffs.

Practicing through a first-round bye, the Vikings remain focused on going as far as possible.

“They’re fine,” Redshaw said. “They just keep working hard.

“It’s what they’ve been working all year for is to get to where they’re at right now. They just keep trudging along.”

Right handers Redding and Mederos will face a lineup that features eight righties and one left handed batter that have been hitting the ball well recently.

“They’re pretty solid everywhere,” Redding said. “You need to get out in front and throw strikes. We’re going into the first game to go out there throw strikes and play good, and everything should be fine.”

The Vikings will also need to challenge Brunswick’s two solid pitchers, each coming from a different side of the pitching rubber.

“Brunswick has a good, solid team with two good pitchers, and they don’t make many mistakes,” Redshaw said. “They’re well coached and fundamentally sound.

“We’ve got to play well. If we don’t play well our season will be over.”