Lowndes hosting top Fla., Ga. baseball teams

Published 12:38 am Friday, March 17, 2006

VALDOSTA — Lowndes High likes to play the best baseball teams they can. This weekend, they’re bringing the top-notch teams here.

Lowndes will host the Georgia-Florida Challenge this weekend. Three top teams from Georgia will face three top teams from Florida, in the city nicknamed Winnersville.

“There’s going to be some great baseball here this weekend,” Lowndes head coach Danny Redshaw said. “If anybody wants to see great high school baseball, they need to come watch this tournament.

“This will be the best high school baseball to be seen in these parts. There will be a lot of college and pro scouts here.”

The tournament begins Friday, with Collins Hill facing Florida Christian at 5 p.m. at Lowndes’ Noel George Field. Sarasota will play Parkview afterwards, at around 7:30 p.m. The tournament will continue on Saturday, with games at both Lowndes and Valdosta State’s Billy Grant Field.

Florida is one of the country’s top states when it comes to baseball, and the three clubs coming up here from the Sunshine State are among the state’s best.

Florida Christian, a private school from Miami, is ranked No. 4 in the nation. Sarasota was ranked 11th in the country before a couple of recent losses. Bartram Trail, out of Jacksonville, is not nationally ranked, but still is a strong program.

“Florida Christian is ranked fourth in the country, so that tells you how good they are. Sarasota’s been ranked as high as 11th,” Redshaw said. “Then we’ve got Parkview and Collins Hill coming down from the Atlanta area. Parkview’s No. 2 in the state right now, and we’re No. 9. Collins Hill’s got a good lefty and they’ve been playing well lately. Like I said, there will be some great competition.”

Perhaps the best game of the tournament will come at 10 a.m. Saturday, when Florida Christian faces Parkview. Host Lowndes (4-2) will get a chance to play both Florida Christian and Sarasota on Saturday, at 2 p.m. and 5 p.m., respectively.

Lowndes has always sought to play great competition. Redshaw and his fellow coaches believe that if the Vikings want to be one of the best in the state, they need to play the best competition they can.

“We play a tough schedule. No doubt about it,” Redshaw said. “We’re not scared to play anybody anywhere. We don’t mind playing the tough teams. We’re not going to go undefeated, because we play such a tough schedule. But that helps us prepare for the playoffs, and the competition we’ll see there.”

Redshaw knows the coaches of the other programs either through coaching clinics, his involvement with USA baseball, or through facing them in the past, and was able to talk each of them into coming to town for the tournament. The other teams are traveling anywhere from 150-475 miles to play in the tournament.

“We’re excited about getting teams like this to come here,” Redshaw said. “These are all great teams, and first-class programs. It’s a great honor for us to have teams like this come here.”

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