Sports Editor

Pike County head coach Fred Holland is teaching his team to move on.

On Friday, the Bulldogs dropped a 5-2 decision to Elba on Marcus Henderson’s grand slam home run in the bottom of the ninth, but must now shake off that tough loss and prepare for Wednesday’s Class 3A opening round contest against Dadeville.

With PCHS leading 2-0 for most of the game, Henderson’s homer came with the bases loaded, two outs, and on a full count offering from relief pitcher Dee Price.

But Holland said he has to keep the Bulldogs focused on the positives of that game, not the negatives.

"You just try to keep them working hard. Day-to-day," he said. "A game like that the other day, you just try to pick out the positive things. You break it down where they can see the little mistakes they made and talk about trying not to put yourself in bad situations."

The loss regulated the Bulldogs to a second-place finish in Area 2 and a road trip to fourth-ranked Dadeville (26-8).

"One thing I know about them is that they have real strong pitching," said Holland. "From what I’ve heard, this is a senior club and one they’ve been waiting on for a long time. They do a good job of hitting the ball and pretty much take advantage of what you give them. I think they’ve been doing that to people all year long."

Holland said he will go with the junior Price or freshman D. J. Cannon to start on the mound Wednesday.

"Teams like this you have to play your best," said Holland about the Tigers. "Going into it, you’d like to know a lot about your team and I think this will be a definite opportunity to see what we’re made of and what type of work we have to do for next year to get there and compete against good baseball teams."