Tornadoes blow into Leakesville for playoffs

By By Jim Luke / special to the Star
April 25, 2002
The Philadelphia Tornadoes begin second round action in the State 3A Baseball Playoffs Friday as they travel to Leakesville to take on the Greene County Wildcats. For the Tornadoes, 18-9, this second season is one that is somewhat of a bonus.
back from last year and moving up to 3A, there were a lot of questions
of whether or not we would get to this point," Tornado coach Scott Hill
said. "I'm happy with the way that some of the guys stepped up and played
for us to this point."
The Tornadoes defeated Forest in a pair of games in the first round of
the playoffs to advance and Hill says that this second round is a reward
for his players for the way they played during the regular season and
in the playoffs so far.
not satisfied to be where we are and I hope we play well to see where
that will get us. We have to play well against Greene County to have any
hope of winning the series."
The Wildcats are 29-4 this season and have earned a lot of respect from
Hill and his players.
an excellent job. This is his third year there and he had brought the
program a long way in three years.
in the upper echelon of 3A schools. They have a balanced ball club and
we've got to be ready to play in all facets of the game. I hope we are
ready to do that."
The Tornadoes plan to start senior Hunter Holley on the mound. Holley,
11-1, has been a workhorse for Philadelphia this season and Hill has
been happy with his performance this season.
us in close games and he has the right mentality to keep us in those games.
He gives us a chance to win ball games and that's all you can ask for."
Friday's contest will start at 7 p.m. with a Saturday game set for Philadelphia's home field at Burnside Park at 1 p.m. If a third game is needed, it will be back at Greene County Monday. The winner of this series will face the
winner of the Morton-Purvis series for the South 3A Championship.