By Mike Hensley

After winning the Area 5 tournament, the Goshen Eagles are gearing up for a run in the AHSAA Class 2A South Central Region tournament being played later this week at the Troy Sportsplex.

Eagle head coach Amy Warrick and the team comes into the tournament with a record of 20-10 and is working hard for a deep run in the tournament.

“We have been getting used to a new defense. We had a rocky start (defensively) and we had to change our bunt coverage,” Warrick said. “We used the first half of the season to get adjusted. We battled some tough opponents, but we didn’t come out playing the ball we’re used to playing.”

The hard work and practicing has paid off in a big way, and the Eagles enter this week’s tournament having won four of their last five games.

“We really started hitting. We got the new batting cages put up so we have been really focused on hitting and we have the new facilities to help us focus. We improved a lot,” Warrick said.

The one loss during that stretch was a home contest with Zion Chapel. The Eagles struggled to score runs and lost to Rebels 7-1.

“We did not hit well in that game; we seemed kind of tight. I think they knew the importance of the game and they tightened up,” Warrick said. “We came back and won against Elba and we hit really well, we loosened up and won again.”

Not only did the offense continue to swing the bats well, the defense made the plays needed to get the win.

“We still made some defensive errors, but our defense looked a lot better,” she said. “We seemed to focus on throwing in front of the runner and our bunt coverage was much better. Everybody seemed to be working together.”

With the tournament on the horizon the Eagles, the message from Warrick to her players is “do whatever it takes.”

“That is what we say. We hit he ball, we pride ourselves on getting in the cage and hitting. We can also bunt; we do both and do it everyday,” Warrick said. “We will do whatever it takes.”

Goshen will be in a region that features seven other teams: Reel Town, Central-Hayneville, Highland Home, Horseshoe Bend, Zion Chapel, Pickens County and the Eagles first opponent Holy Spirit.

“We have to continue to hit the ball well. We worked on a lot of defensive situations.” Coach Warrick said. “That’s one thing we work hard on is when to throw ahead of runners. We have to continue to hit the ball. If we can’t hit we have to really tighten up on the defense.”

Goshen’s game against Holy Spirit is scheduled for 11:30 a.m.