Eliminating mistakes will be the name of the game as Straughn travels to face Headland in a doubleheader today in the first round of the Class 3A state playoffs.

The Tigers are coming off a bout of losses against Enterprise and Greenville, but Straughn coach John Fussell said he is confident his team is “better.”

“I feel like (Headland) has a good team, but I feel like we’re better than they are,” Fussell said. “We’re playing them over there in their place and we’ve got to play well on the road.”

Straughn (18-12, 2-2 in Class 3A, Area 3) had a 12-11 record last year and did not make it to the first round of the playoffs, losing its final games to Clarke County, 13-3, 18-1.

Headland, on the other hand, made it to the fourth round of the playoffs last season.

“We played real good defense against Enterprise (last Saturday),” Fussell said. “We didn’t play good defense (Tuesday) and I made a bad decision bringing a runner to third base against Greenville.

“If we eliminate base running mistakes and errors and quit leaving people on base — those three right there, then we’ll be fine against Headland,” he said.

The games start at 3 p.m. in Headland. If necessary, there will be a 3 p.m. game Saturday because of a tiebreaker.