BAMBERG - Having an “ace” or two up the sleeve is always valuable for a poker player.

For a baseball coach aspiring for another state championship, having a pair of “aces” in the pitching rotation is an even more valuable luxury.

As Bamberg-Ehrhardt head coach David Horton begins another state championship quest at 6:30 p.m. tonight at home in the Class A District Five playoffs against Hardeeville, he has decided to play “hold ‘em” with his top two starters Don Sandifer and Zack Godley. Instead of opening defense of the Class A title by throwing one of his aces against a Hurricanes’ team making its first-ever playoff appearance, Horton has

“shuffled the deck” and is leaning towards starting senior Dustin Callahan.

Sophomore Randon Sandifer or Matt Kearse are also possibilities, with either Sandifer or Godley pitching Saturday at home against the Lake View/East Clarendon winner.

“I would like to give (Sandifer and Godley) a rest if possible,” Horton said. “If not, then I wouldn’t hesitate to pitch them if we were not scoring runs.”

In Don Sandifer and Godley, the Red Raiders (19-3) have a pair of dominating senior right-handers whose ability to quiet opposing bats has helped inspire confidence in the rest of the team.

“Coach just tells us to score five runs because I don’t believe anybody has scored over five runs on us this year with Zack and I pitching,” Sandifer said. “That’s pretty much our goal at every game - to try to score at least five runs because we don’t believe other teams can score more than five runs off of us. So we have a good shot of beating them.”

“It helps the world,” Godley said. “It’s always good (to have two pitching aces) because if one of us is off, we’ve always got the other one who can come in. It always helps.”

Both Sandifer and Godley, who play catcher whenever the other is pitching, have a proven track record of carrying the Red Raiders to a championship. It was Sandifer’s clutch Game Two performance both on the mound (nine strikeouts in seven innings) and at the plate (three RBIs) with B-E down 0-1 in last season’s Best-of-Three state championship series against Chesterfield which forced a deciding game.

Two nights later, Godley had the game of his life as he allowed just two hits, struck out nine and blasting a home run to lift the Red Raiders to its state and national-record 14th state title.

“It helped my confidence tremendously,” Godley said. “Pitching how I did last year has helped me immensely. It’s helped me gain more confidence on the mound. It helped me find more control. It helped the world.”

This season, the two college-bound pitchers (Sandifer to Francis Marion, Godley to Spartanburg Methodist College) sport identical 6-1 records with earned run averages just above 1.00. Godley has more strikeouts (73) and a lower ERA (1.03) than Sandifer (66 Ks, 1.36 ERA), who once again leads the Red Raiders at the plate with a .491 batting average and 27 RBIs.

“I try to blow it by them and use my change-up and just try to get them off a little bit,” Sandifer said. “Just try to not let them hit it hard. Zach uses his fastball to blow it by them. He has a more powerful fastball than I.”

“Zack might throw a little bit harder than Don, but Don probably has a better change-up of the two,” Horton said. “Zack has a good curveball. At times, Don also has it. So they’re a little bit different.”

“In my opinion, Don is a better pitcher than me,” Godley said. “He’s been on the mound more than I have. He’s got more experience than I do. He knows what to do and I’m still learning.”

A concern for Horton entering the postseason is the lethargy he has sensed during team practices. Having dominated Region 5-A and all three losses coming in tournament play, Horton is anxious to see if his team can regain the intensity and enthusiasm needed for playoff success.

“Sometimes you get complacent from winning and beating people by big scores,” he said. “They’ve got to realize that those games are gone. Most of the people you play from here on, other than maybe this first-round, are all going to be good from here on out and some of them are going to have to step up.”

Neither Sandifer nor Godley seem concerned about B-E not being ready to play. When asked about motivation this year, both players pointed to one goal.

“Do it again,” Sandifer said.

“Repeat,” Godley said. “That’s always what we aim for here. That’s what we want to accomplish.”

TONIGHT’S S.C. HIGH SCHOOL LEAGUE PLAYOFF SCHEDULE

BASEBALL

CLASS A

District V

Hardeeville at Bamberg-Ehrhradt

District VII

Calhoun County at Military Magnet

District VIII

Cross at Branchville

SOFTBALL

CLASS A

District V

Military Magnet at Bamberg-Ehrhardt

District VI

Calhoun County at Academic Magnet

District VII

Bethune-Bowman at Cross

District VIII

Hardeeville at Branchville

CLASS 2-A

District V

Woodland at Barnwell

District VII

Edisto at Bishop England

CLASS 3-A

District VI

Swansea at Darlington

T&D Senior Sports Writer Thomas Grant Jr. can be reached by e-mail at tgrant@timesanddemocrat.com or by phone at 803-533-5547. Read his blog, Following the Bulldogs, and other stories on-line at TheTandD.com.

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