By Kevin Eckleberry

kevin.eckleberry@lagrangenews.com

HOGANSVILLE – The Callaway Cavaliers will play for a region championship today, and head coach Dusty Hubbard will send his ace to the mound.

Josh Hanson, who hasn’t lost a game this season, will be on the mound for the first game of today’s doubleheader against Heard County.

Callaway, which beat Heard County 11-1 on Tuesday, needs to win one game today to secure the Region 5-AA title.

If Heard County wins both games today, it will be the region champion, and Callaway will finish second.

The Cavaliers figure to be in good shape with Hanson on the mound.

The senior right-hander has been mostly untouchable this season, and he’ll bring a 7-0 record into the game.

“That’s big for us, having such a seasoned guy like Josh in there, able to go Game 2,” Hubbard said. “He’s been in a lot of these battles.”

If Heard County does manage to win today’s first game, Callaway would still be in fine shape for the second game, with a host of other pitchers available, including senior Dylan Johnson, as well as Chandler Lott, who pitched five innings on Tuesday.

The Cavaliers are as hot as any team in Class AA.

Since losing to Troup to fall to 5-7, Callaway has won 13 consecutive games, and it is 10-0 in region play.

Hubbard said the players have dealt, with failure, and success, in a mature way.

“They’ve handled some failure early on, and they’ve done a good job handling success these last couple of weeks,” Hubbard said. “They haven’t changed the way they approach things. It’s always hard for young kids to handle any ups and downs. These guys have done that.”

While Callaway easily won Tuesday’s game after scoring eight runs in the first inning, Hubbard expects a challenge today against a Heard County team having an outstanding season.

“It’s going to be a battle Friday,” Hubbard said. “They’re a good ball team. They just didn’t have a very good day, and I felt like defensively we played a clean game.”