(Franklin, GA) — The Heard County Braves varsity baseball team will take the field its season opener this Wednesday afternoon when head coach Trent Bianco and his squad host Carver-Columbus at Alford Field with a first pitch at 5:30 PM.
The 2019 version of the Braves will hope to build on the recent success of a program that has made three appearances in the Elite 8 and one appearance in the Sweet 16 over the last four years under Coach Bianco, who enters his sixth season as the Brave skipper.
The team will return the majority of its starting lineup and expectations are again high with the Braves already being ranked at No. 4 in the State of Georgia in Class AA by the Georgia Dugout Club after finishing 2018 with a ranking of No. 8.
Despite the lofty No. 4 preseason ranking, the Braves will face a strong challenge in Region 5-AA as fellow Region foes Bremen and Callaway are both ranked even higher in the poll — Bremen at No. 1 and Callaway at No. 2.
Elbert County is tabbed at No. 3 while Rockmart comes in at No. 5. Defending Champion Benedictine won’t be a worry for anyone in Class AA after being moved up to Class AAA in the offseason.
Bianco is excited to be preparing for this season.
“This time of year you are always excited — a new group and a new team — I think it’s safe to say the group last year overachieved a little bit and it was good for a lot of those sophomores we started to get a chance to see what it is like to make a run to the Elite 8,” Bianco says. “We will have a very tough schedule to get ready for region but we need that because I have no doubt this will be the toughest region since I have been here.”
Bianco has always scheduled tough non-region games which has often equated to a slow start to the season but has also been key to solid final results in both region and postseason play.
“It is tough to face these perennial playoff teams early, but I’m never going to schedule any differently,” Bianco adds. “Our guys always love the competition and the challenge but at the same time our primary goal is to get ready for that region schedule on March 5 and the better pitching we see and better line-ups our pitchers face can only help us towards our goals later in the season.”

Junior Tray Owens (Photo: Heard County Braves on Facebook)
Cannot wait to see these young MEN in action this season. We are very thankful for our coaching staff and administration he at Heard County for providing us with the Best campus and school is the state of Georgia. As always go Heard County and #BRAVESNATION