Opp remembers what happened last year in the second round of the Class 3A state playoffs.

 

The Bobcats, loaded with a nice-sized class of six seniors, took leads in the first two games of the playoff series, but ended up losing both for a sweep at Bayside Academy.

 

OHS will have its rematch today in the first round against the Admirals, and Bobcats coach Michael Cassady said his kids are excited.

 

“They’re ready for the rematch,” Cassady said. “Four to five juniors and all of the seniors went down to Bayside Academy and they remember what losing those two games felt like.

 

“(Bayside Academy coach Doug Leffard) is like me,” he said. “He lost seven seniors and we lost six (from last year’s team). We both have even teams., and both are playing well.”

 

Today’s doubleheader will start at 4:30 p.m. An if necessary game is Saturday at 12:30 p.m. in case of a split today.

 

Cassady said the Admirals (25-8) played in a tough area with heavyweights T.R. Miller and unbeaten W.S. Neal.

 

In last year’s playoff run for OHS, the Bobcats lost their first game against TRM, but bounced back to win games two and three to advance to the second round.

 

Advancing past the second round this season is the sole reason why the baseball team went back to work in January to get ready for the season, Cassady said.

 

“You want to start off well (in the series),” the coach said. “We’ve got to play two (today). You want to try to get the first one, and then get to game two.

 

“In our case, every time we’ve lost game one, we’ve come back to win games two and three,” he said. “We need to not panic if we lose game one.”

 

If the games were to be canceled today because of inclement weather, then today’s doubleheader will be made up on Saturday at 12:30 and 3 p.m. The if necessary game would be slated for 4:30 on Monday.