The Red Bank Lions won the District 6-AAA baseball tournament last Tuesday and got a day off Wednesday. Bradley Central’s Bears won the 5-AAA championship Wednesday and was off Thursday.

Being rested and ready is second only to winning in May.

“The kids were completely away from it on Wednesday. I told them no baseball at all,” Red Bank coach Bumper Reese said. “I didn’t want them down at the field; I didn’t want them throwing. No batting practice, nothing. District tournaments are just as much a mental strain as physical.”

The Lions rallied from a 13-3 deficit Monday against Ooltewah to win 17-16 and reach the championship game.

“Probably the best baseball game I have been involved in,” Reese said. “But I didn’t go to bed till 3:30 (a.m.) and then got up at 5:30, and I know most of our kids probably did the same thing.”

Red Bank had a tough practice Friday, but Reese limited the amount of running the team did Friday and Saturday and planned a light practice late Sunday afternoon before tonight’s Region 3 semifinal against District 5 runner-up McMinn County.

“I want their legs fresh,” Reese said. “(Former Red Bank football coach) Tom Weathers taught me a long time ago that if you want a kid’s best, then you want him to have his legs under him.”

District 5-AA champion McMinn Central played games last Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. They did some hitting Thursday, had a full practice Friday and took Saturday off with two 45-minute practices Sunday.

“We stay as close to regular season as we can in the postseason,” Chargers coach Travis Hart said. “But we usually have one off day every week anyway.”

Lookout Valley has trimmed practices but only by an hour. The Yellow Jackets started the season going four hours each day, and coach David Dinger said he has cut back to three hours.

“Right now the kids want to play, play, play, but we still have a lot of things to get better at,” he said. “Who knows how long we’re going to play, but we’re still making mistakes that will get us beat down the road. We have to recognize those and improve on them.

“You never get to a point where you’re good enough, and if you think you are then somebody is going to show you that you’re not.”

Like Reese, most coaches worry about their players getting tired. Dinger’s Jackets still lifts weights twice per week but probably are running less in practice, although they are still doing the same things they were doing at the start of the season.

“I talk to a lot of coaches and I had a conversation with Ken Colquette, who is a guru in my book,” Dinger said. “A big thing with him is to do what you do and continue to do it. That’s a pretty good guy to listen to.”

Colquette coached Marion County to three straight football championships in the 1990s.

Marion baseball coach Steven Roberts has trimmed practice time, but he cut back on the Warriors’ running beginning in March.

“I worried about it. We changed it,” he said. “We were running a lot early, and the kids were losing their legs later in year. Now, even after they’ve pitched, our pitchers won’t run more than 20 minutes. It seems to have worked.”