Defending Baseball Champs St. Pius Face Battle to Stay On Top

faces this season the tough assignment of holding on to the Region 5 AAA baseball title.

Only one outfield starter returns from last year's team, which finished with an incredible 23-5 overall record and 14-1 region mark. 

"Our weakness will be our youth and inexperience. We graduated 10 seniors and only have two seniors on the team this year," St. Pius Coach J.T. Gilbert said. "However, even with our youth, I think this team has good baseball instincts and could make a good run if everything comes together."

That will partly rest on the shoulders of junior pitcher Chab Mabini and outfielder Alex Avant, among the three returning starters from last year.

Mabini, who also plays shortstop, was one of St. Pius' top-performers on the mound last year. Avant is another versatile fielder, adding width to the Golden Lions lineup.

The rest of that lineup will evolve during the early part of the season, which starts on Feb. 22 against Greater Atlanta Christian. 

"We will have great competition in the pre-season and our first seven games to see who our starting line-up will be," said Gilbert, who expects several teams to be in the regional championship mix.

"Our region will be very competitive. I think Woodward, Riverwood, North Atlanta, Columbia, Druid Hills and St. Pius will have a heated race for the top four positions to move on to the playoffs. North Springs is new to our region this year and have had good teams in the past, but [I'm] just not sure what they have this year."  

Despite a widened field of credible competitors and inexperience, St. Pius' expectations remain high.   

"Like any year, we want to make it to the playoffs and see where the ball bounces," Gilbert said. "Baseball is a funny game. If you get hot at the right time you can beat anyone."