Throughout the last five seasons the Adairsville Tigers supplanted themselves as one of the premier baseball programs in northwest Georgia and even became one of the top teams in the state in 2011.

But with a host of seniors departed from the 2011 squad, head coach Eric Bishop will turn to a much younger roster in 2012 to keep that tradition of success alive.

“We had a three- or four-year span where we were building and building and last year was the culmination of all of that,” said Bishop of his team’s recent winning ways. “But the players on this team have known since last year ended that it would be their responsibility to carry on that tradition.

“It will be tough with only three seniors and we have the toughest schedule since I have been here, but we have a lot of talented kids in our program,” Bishop continued.

Adairsville went 25-5 a year ago and a perfect 12-0 in region play. The Tigers dethroned traditional AA powerhouse Calhoun as the 7AA champions and advanced to the second round of the state playoffs where they eventually lost to Blessed Trinity.

The season marked Adairsville’s fifth straight trip to the state playoffs and fourth straight year with at least 19 victories.

If the Tigers want to reach those marks again they will be sure to lean on the bat, and right arm, of Cody Kremer.

Kremer, a four-year starter, hit .428 with nine home runs, 38 runs-batted-in and 17 stolen based as a junior. On the mound he went 6-2 with a 1.17 ERA and 108 strikeouts in just over 56 innings.

“You never know what Cody is going to do for the team next because he is such a competitor,” said Bishop about Kremer, who has already signed to play at the University of Georgia next year. “Cody will be a big leader for us this year because there is no substitute for the experience he has.”

The Tigers’ other experienced returnees are senior outfielder Trey Gulledge and junior Kyle Adams. Ross Kennedy, the team’s third senior, was injured most of last season.

Filling in the gaps behind them will be a host of players that Bishop said can play a multitude of positions including Dylan Cochran, Tristan Smith, Hunter Smith and Zach Sherwood.

“These guys know that things are wide open and there is a ton of competition [for playing time],” said the Adairsville coach. “For the first third of the season we’re going to play a lot of different lineups, defenses, and experiment with things.”

“Hopefully by the time region play is here we’re ready to make another run at it.”