WCHS baseball alumni make postseason runs

The baseball season for Warren County High School may have ended at the district level, but for two Pioneer alumni, the 2006 campaign continued well into the postseason.

And for one member of that duo the season still isn?t over, as his team finds itself among the state?s final eight.

Brandon Lowry and George Oleksik, members of the 1992 state championship Pioneer squad, both led their teams to successful springs as head coaches, and were in action last night in the sectional level of the TSSAA state tournament.

Oleksik?s Notre Dame Irish reached the state tournament for the first time since 1997 Friday night, edging White House 2-1 on a bases-loaded walk in the eighth inning.

?We?ve got six seniors, including three guys that came out this year for the first time in three years and really good athletes who are just starting to click on the baseball field,? said Oleksik, who is in his third year at the helm of the Irish and said he used his state tournament experience from his days as a player to help inspire his club along the way.

?I told them it?s not out of their reach. Anything can happen in these games, and once you get to that state tournament, anything goes. If you get hot at the right time, the way we did in 1992, anything?s possible.?

The victory allowed Notre Dame to improve to 27-11 on the season. The District 6-AA tournament runners-up went on to capture the Region 3-AA championship with a 13-3 win over McMinn Central, and will face Anderson County Tuesday morning at Columbia State in the opening round of the Class AA tournament.

For Lowry, the 2006 season proved to be the most successful ever for his Chattanooga Arts and Sciences Patriots.

Unfortunately for the fifth-year head coach, the campaign fell one victory short of a state tournament berth, with an 8-4 loss to Trousdale County. Lowry said big-game jitters from his club, which won its first district season and tournament championships, as well as the Region 3-A championship, proved costly early in their sectional game.

?(Trousdale is) pretty tough, and the thing they had on us was experience,? he noted. ?You could tell they were a lot more calm and poised.

?For my guys, school?s been crazy all week with people congratulating them and doting on them and they might have been a little too fired-up. That led to some early errors, and they really cost us.?

Like Oleksik, Lowry said the experience he gained during his high school career helped him prepare his players for competition among the state?s elite.

?I talked to (former Pioneer coach) Ronnie Brown earlier this week, and I told him it sure was a lot easier as a player,? Lowry noted. ?But (the experience of 1992) definitely was a help. Being able to have state tourney experience and knowing what it was like to be on a winning program in high school is something I?ve been slowly trying to instill in these guys, and it took a few seasons, but they?ve got it.

?But when you?ve got a chance to go to the state tournament, a coach can?t rein in that kind of excitement. They wanted it too much, and made some critical mistakes. But I?m so very proud of this team, and we?ll be getting back our top hitters and all of our pitchers next year ? so we?ll be ready to make it to that next step.?