By By BRUCE HIXON – Sports Editor
Break or not to break. It is a question coaches and players have dealt with over the past week.
While classes were shut down for a week at T.R. Miller and W.S. Neal High Schools along with Jefferson Davis Community College, the athletic teams at those respective schools took different paths.
The only sport to compete at both high schools during spring break was baseball. T.R. Miller played one day, which was Friday's contest at W.S. Neal. The Blue Eagles spent much of spring break playing. W.S. Neal played three games over Monday and Tuesday when it hosted its own four-team invitational tournament. W.S. Neal also had Friday's game against T.R. Miller.
I didn't feel we could afford to be off the entire week before we played T.R. Miller Friday and still be sharp. That is a big reason why we had our tournament,” W.S. Neal coach Coy Campbell said.
T.R. Miller's baseball has gone different routes in recent years. Two years ago T.R. Miller competed at the Gulf Shores Tournament over the break. Last season T.R. Miller was off the week of spring break until that Saturday when it played an Area doubleheader at Straughn.
Other teams at T.R. Miller and W.S. Neal were off during spring break. Not only did they not play, most did not have practice either.
Spring break is also a time where some athletes are involved in trips. Several T.R. Miller athletes were gone to Europe over the break as part of the senior class trip.
The trip forced T.R. Miller senior baseball players to choose between taking a possible trip of a lifetime to Europe or staying home in order to play with their team. Three players chose to take the trip.
Some lengthy gaps between playing dates have happened for teams that chose to be idle over the break. Some teams already had lulls in their game schedule.
The longest break between games is for W.S. Neal tennis, which has not played since its March 16 match against T.R. Miller. W.S. Neal's next match is not until 19 days later when it again plays T.R. Miller April 4.
T.R. Miller golf is in the midst of 15 days off between meets and one meet in 28 days. The Tigers have had one meet cancelled during the four-week stretch. T.R. Miller softball has a two-week gap between games and has just one game in three weeks.
Both of JDCC's spring teams, Warhawks baseball and Lady Warhawks softball, competed over the school's spring break although both had their schedules cut back just a bit.
The only competition for JDCC's baseball last week came Friday when the Warhawks played a doubleheader at Central Alabama.
season, but it didn't fall that way.”
Lady Warhawks softball played once during spring break, which was Saturday's doubleheader at Wallace State-Dothan. JDCC had two other dates cancelled although one of them was unplanned. Last Monday's twinbill at Faulkner State was pushed back until April 29 in order to give the players some time off during spring break. JDCC had an unexpected cancellation Thursday when its doubleheader at L.B. Wallace was called off when one of the umpires failed to show. It was rescheduled for May 1.
Bruce Hixon is the sports editor for The Brewton Standard. He can be reached at 867-4876 or by e-mail at sports@brewtonstandard.com.