Sports Editor

Tonight in Hogan’s Hole the Charles Henderson Trojans will be looking to take their second straight area championship.

And they’ll be looking to do it over a familiar foe.

The Carroll High School Eagles will come calling at 6 p.m., fresh off of a 7-1 victory over fellow Class 5A Area 4 opponent Eufaula on Friday.

CHHS won the first meeting between the two schools on April 2 at Eagles’ Field in Ozark. The game was an emotional contest and one that was played one day following the death of volunteer assistant coach Terry Sikes. Led by senior Will Jones’s two-run single, the Trojans came back from three runs down to beat Carroll, 4-3.

But taking close games in Ozark is nothing new to CHHS head coach Steve Garrett and the Trojans.

Last year, CHHS beat the Eagles 10-9 on their home turf. Carroll’s Spencer Stegall hit a line drive into left field, which was chased down by CHHS outfielder Scott Stetson. Stetson threw to Kevin Stephens at shortstop, who fired the ball to former Trojans’ catcher Jonathan Neely, beating the tying run to homeplate for the final out of the game.

However, in Troy, the Eagles haven’t been as snake-bit.

They’ve just been dominated.

The Trojans routed Carroll in the final regular season game of 2000, 11-1, to take the area title.

Charles Henderson finished the year 24-9, breaking the old school record for most wins by the varsity baseball team in a season.