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  • Bill Murrell, left, and Jacob Hagewood stand at third base during last week’s first-round playoff win against Decatur Heritage. Hagewood was part of the 2008 team that won the state championship.

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April 26, 2012

ABS faces familiar foe

By Jonathan Deal jonathan@athensnews-courier.com

— Bill Murrell remembers the game like it was yesterday.

“We played Shoals (Christian) in the semifinals right out here,” the Athens Bible coach said pointing to the school’s baseball field. “It went to the last inning of that third game. The tying and winning run were on third and second when AJ Price struck out two batters in a row.

“He walked the first batter because he wasn’t quite warm and then he struck out the next two batters. That was the year we won state.”

ABS went on to beat Providence to win the 2008 state championship. Since then, Shoals Christian has won the last two state championships. On Friday, the two Class 1A powers will collide once again when ABS hosts Shoals in a second round playoff game.

“It seems like we have played them every year in the playoffs,” Murrell said.

The 38-year coaching veteran isn’t far off. ABS and Shoals have become familiar opponents in the postseason, eliminating one another three out of the last four years.

Since that dramatic victory in ’08, ABS beat Shoals in the third round of the 2009 playoffs with the Flame returning the favor in the second round last season.

ABS will have an advantage Friday that it did not last year. The Trojans will play on its home field against the two-time defending state champions.

“It’s big, everybody likes to play at home,” Murrell said. “It’s familiar surroundings, more of your supporters can come out. We’re looking forward to it.”

Adding to the suspense is that fact that ABS and Shoals have not played each other since last year’s postseason series. The lack of games between the teams doesn’t mean they aren’t familiar with one another. Murrell hinted that the schools might have covertly scouted one another during the season.

“You try to learn all you can,” Murrell said. “Try to avoid giving them the pitches where they love to kill them. If our guys can be patient and wait on a hittable pitch, they ought to have a good shot at scoring some runs.”

Murrell hopes his team can continue the form it showed in the fifth and sixth innings against Decatur Heritage in the Trojans first round victory. In that game, ABS fell behind twice before scoring 13 runs over two innings to seal the 19-11 win.

The longtime ABS coach related his team’s inconsistent play to a famous 19th century literary work.

“Eight days before the playoffs, we played like Mr. Hyde. Two days later, we played like Dr. Jekyll,” Murrell said, referring to Robert Louis Stevenson’s Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde.  “When we got down 5-0 and I went out and talked to them on the mound, I said, ‘It’s the first inning – Mr. Hyde’s trying to come back; let’s shut the door and keep him out.’

“Our boys realize that if they will play with intensity and stay mentally focused, they have a chance to beat any school in 1A.”

When the series kicks off at 1:15 tomorrow, Murrell hopes to see Dr. Jekyll and not Mr. Hyde.

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