Mill Creek baseball finishes strong with another Final Four run

Mill Creek's Matt Simay throws to first baseball during a Class AAAAAAA semifinal series at Parkview on Wednesday, May 10, 2023.

LILBURN — The red-hot Mill Creek Hawks had their baseball season come to an end Wednesday night in the Final Four of the state playoffs after dropping two games to top-ranked Parkview.

But regardless of coming up just short of another state finals appearance, Mill Creek and head coach Doug Jones have much to be proud of and plenty to be excited about for the future of their program.

Mill Creek finished the season with the semifinal run, a 24-15 record and a Region 8-AAAAAAA runner-up finish. Despite graduating several important pieces off their 2021-2022 roster and losing key players this season because of injuries, the Hawks were able to make a deep run in the state playoffs with sweeps Duluth in the first round and Kennesaw Mountain in the second round, followed by a three-game series win over Hillgrove.

It was a miraculous run for Mill Creek which started the season 1-5 through their first six games before catching fire at the right time.

"We just worked. I mean we took our lumps early. We couldn't get out of our own way for a while," Mill Creek head coach Doug Jones said. "(Mill Creek's players) just continued to battle. Certain kids had big years and we were able to jump on their back a little bit and then some kids just came out of nowhere. It's just a testament to continuing to work and continuing to punch the clock and trying to be the best you can be every day."

Mill Creek, always known for strong pitching, lost senior pitcher and Alabama signee Beau Brailey before the season began. It was just one of many injuries that led to the Hawks depending on other seniors and some underclassmen to have an impact.

For Mill Creek's 10 members of their senior class, they’ll finish their high school careers proud of their accomplishments over the last four years that include two region championships (2021, 2022), back-to-back state semifinal appearances (2022, 2023), Region 8-AAAAAAA runner-up (2023), and over 85 wins during their time with the Hawks.

Furthermore, multiple members of their senior class have signed to continue their baseball careers at the collegiate level.

"Everything," Jones said of what the senior class has meant to the Mill Creek program. "A lot of these guys sat and watched last year. You’re talking kids with two at-bats, three at-bats, things like that, and (they) just continued to work, that's the thing I’m most proud of was showing up for practice every day and not saying ‘Well so-and-so is ahead of me. I’ll just wait until he gets done.’ They just continued to work and (I’m) fortunate to have them in class every day and just watch what they do."

Jones also expressed how proud he was of his players’ abilities off-the-field and their dedication in the classroom.

"I’d say 85% of our kids are scholar-athletes and they’re just high achievers and when you have kids like that, success is destined for them regardless of what journey they choose," Jones said.

Mill Creek will now shift its focus to continuing to improve and prepare for the 2023-2024 season in hopes of making a third straight Final Four appearance and capturing the school's first state championship in baseball.

"I think you’re gonna expect the same thing (next season)," Jones said. "You’re gonna expect us to play a tough schedule, we’re gonna try to plug in the 10 seniors, you’re gonna have to plug some serious holes there and just work to get better and hopefully by the time late April, May, gets here then we’ve done enough to put ourselves in the conversation again."

Although Mill Creek will be graduating 10 seniors, it will bring back a large part of this season's lineup, which saw six underclassman starters in Game 2 against Parkview.

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Scenes from Mill Creek at Parkview baseball in the Class AAAAAAA semifinals on May 10, 2023 in Lilburn. (Photos: Brian Bates)

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