Coaches in all sports at any level have one goal at the top of their list at the beginning of each season.

They want to peak, or be playing at their best, at the beginning of playoff time.

Three Bainbridge High School Lady Cats and Bearcats teams, Coach Nicki Shockley’s Lady Cats tennis team, Coach Larry Cosby’s Bearcats track team and Coach Scott Miller’s Bearcats baseball team, are doing just that.

The Lady Cats tennis team, with Katie Monson, Kylie McGlincy and Anne Reynolds at one, two and three singles, and the teams of Caroline Rollins and Kristen Monson and Kelsey Lambert and Anna Reynolds at one and two doubles, were dominant in winning the Region 1-AAAA championship last week in Thomaston, defeating, the Hardaway High School Lady Golden Hawks of Columbus 5-0 in the first round and the Harris County High School Lady Tigers 4-1 in the second round.

Tuesday afternoon, the Lady Cats continued their strong play, defeating the Dutchtown High School Lady Bulldogs, the number four seeded team from in Region 4AAAA in the first Round of the State Class AAAA Tournament.

A complete story on the first round state victory over Georgetown appears elsewhere in today’s sports section.

Coach Cosby’s Bearcats track team was dominant in wrapping up a strong regular season last Friday night at the Westover High School of Albany’s Relays at Albany’s Hugh Mills Memorial Stadium Track.

Stars of the meet were the 4-by-100-meter relay team of Denzel Reynolds, Shawn Samuels, Brandon Handsford and Thomas Smiley who set a new meet record with a time of 41.55.

Reynolds, Samuels, Handsford and Smiley also set new meet records at the March 20 Thomas County Central High School Yellow Jackets Invitational Meet and the April 3 Lowndes County High School Vikings Invitational Meet in Valdosta.

The Bearcats baseball team, with the hitting of senior first baseman Parker Heard and senior third baseman Tyler Hutchins leading the way, swept a 5-1, 9-6 double header over the Americus-Sumter County High School Panthers Friday night in Americus to put them into position for a chance to play the Lee County High School Trojans in a Friday home double header for the Region 1AAAA South Sub-Region championship.

Coach Shockley, Coach Cosby and Coach Miller are all bright young coaches whose teams will only get better in the future.

High school sports coaches like them work hard in preparing their athletes for competition.

They don’t have the luxury of recruiting outstanding talent like college coaches or drafting outstanding talent like professional coaches. They, instead, have to develop it daily in their student-athletes.

It’s been a great spring for Bainbridge High School Lady Cats and Bearcats sports teams and it’s not over yet.