After a tough battle in the first round of the Class 1A baseball playoffs, Athens Bible is ready to go again, and coach Bill Murrell hopes his pitchers will be more judicious with their pitch counts.

The Trojans ran into trouble with pitch counts in their first-round series against Cedar Bluff, with none of the starters able to last the entire game. Murrell said that is something that needs to change in the second-round matchup with Shoals Christian.

“It’s important for all of our starting pitchers to manage their pitch count,” Murrell said. “We’ve talked about that and stressed that in our skull sessions this week.”

The Alabama High School Athletic Association has limits on how many pitches can be thrown in a game. Seventh- and eighth-graders have a limit of 85 pitches while freshmen and sophomores can throw 100. The limit for juniors and seniors is 120. However, if a pitcher reaches his pitch count limit in the middle of an at-bat, he can finish the at-bat before having to leave the game.

That rule perhaps cost Athens Bible its opening game, as starter Kenneth Adams couldn’t finish the game due to surpassing 120 pitches, and Cedar Bluff scored two runs in the bottom of the seventh to take a 4-3 victory.

The Trojans had enough offense in the second and third games to alleviate any issues with pitching, as ABS took the second game 8-4 and the third game 11-5. But Murrell said the pitching must be on point this weekend against a Shoals Christian team that is better than its 11-19 record indicates.

“They are a very young team,” Murrell said. “I’ve talked to a coach whose team played them in early March and then again in early April, and he said they are vastly improved. I think they have to start seventh- or eighth-graders because they’ve only got eight kids that are ninth grade and above. But they do have three seniors who were on teams that went deep in the playoffs when they were younger.”

While the Trojans were on the road in the first round, they will host in the second-round series. The first two games of the three-game series are at 1 and 3:30 p.m. Friday, with an if-necessary third game set for 11 a.m. Saturday.

Murrell said he believes the tough test Athens Bible got from Cedar Bluff in the first round will help the team this weekend.

“It’s sad that two very good teams had to meet up so early in the playoffs,” he said. “Our boys were determined and played well. The boys really believed they could do it, and they did. That can only help us as we go deeper in the playoffs.”

While sunny skies are forecast for Friday’s game, a potential 11/2 inches of rain Thursday could make for a long Friday for Murrell and the other coaches as they prepare the field for game time.

“We’ll be working from sunup until the time the game starts to get the field ready from all the rain Thursday,” Murrell said. “We should be ready to go by the time the game starts.”