RSS Feed |
|
|
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Warriors sweep Gatewood in first round
The Warriors faced the Gatewood Gators from Eatonton in a best 2-of-3 playoff series. There was a big crowd at the game and the fans did not leave disappointed. The Warriors blanked the Gators in the first game 5-0 and made it a sweep by defeating Gatewood 6-5 in the nightcap. SGA Warrior senior Russ Williams took the mound and the win in the first game throwing his fourth complete game shutout of the season. Williams scattered six hits, struck out seven, and walked only one batter in his seven innings of work. The Warriors played stellar defense behind Williams, committing no errors while making several nice plays in the field. SGA scored a run in the bottom of the first inning. Russ Williams reached on a fielders' choice and courtesy runner Blake Lanton came in to run for Williams. Lanton scored the game's first run as Michael Fincher drew a bases loaded walk with two outs. The Warriors added three more runs in the second inning to go up 4-0. Alex Wilson got things started with a lead off double. Wilson moved to third base on a sacrifice bunt by Beau Clenney and came in to score on a single by Miles Lee. Drew Bridges followed with a triple to right-center field to plate Lee. Bridges scored the final run of the inning on an errant pick-off throw to first base. Matthew Cleveland scored the Warriors' final run of the game in the fourth inning. Cleveland walked and stole second base and eventually scored on a wild pitch to give SGA its final margin of victory, 5-0. Lee, Bridges and Wilson led SGA at the plate with two hits and an RBI for the Warriors. The Warriors jumped to an early lead and coasted to win the first game. The nightcap was another story. The Warriors had to battle the Gators to the final out to come away victorious. The Warriors were considered the visitors in the second game and batted first. Neither team scored in the first inning but SGA took the early lead in the top of the second inning. Michael Fincher hit a one out double and came around to score on a single by Alex Wilson to put SGA up 1-0. Gatewood came back and took the lead 2-1 in the bottom of the third inning. The Gators' lead would be short lived though. The Warriors retook the lead in the top of the fourth inning by plating five runners to go up 6-2. Matthew Cleveland hit a 1-out single and Fincher walked. Chandler Ray, who had been ripping the ball all day just right at the Gatewood players, finally found a hole hitting a double to plate Cleveland. Wilson laid down a perfect suicide squeeze bunt single scoring Fincher. Alan Mock walked to load the bases. With two outs, Drew Bridges drilled a double into the gap in left-center scoring Ray,Wilson, and Mock. The Warriors retired the Gators in order in the bottom half of the inning and it seemed that with a 6-2 lead the Warriors were well on their way to victory. Gatewood changed all that in the bottom of the fifth inning.With 2 outs and runners at first and second base, Gatewood cleanup hitter Corey Jones crushed a 3- run homer to make it a 6-5 game with two innings to go. Both teams went down in order in the sixth inning. SGA got a runner on in the top of the seventh but were unable to score and were left clinging to a one run lead. With one out, Gatewood's Blake Gorley singled and moved to second on an errant pickoff throw. The next batter flied out to left field leaving the tying run at second base with two outs. SGA's Coach Manry decided to intentionally walk Gatewood's homerun hitter Jones, putting the winning run on first base. The next batter hit the ball hard, but Warrior second baseman Russ Williams made a nice play on the ball and threw the Gator runner out at first base to preserve the Warriors' victory. Drew Bridges pitched the complete game allowing 7 hits, 4 strikeouts, and 3 walks - two of those intentional.
Bridges also led the Warriors at the plate going 2-for-3 with three RBIs. Alex Wilson also went 2-for- 3 and had two RBIs. The Warriors advance to the second round of the playoffs and will be traveling to Dublin to play the number one ranked team in the state, Trinity Christian, in another best 2-of-3 series. The teams will play a double header Monday starting at 1 p.m. The "if" game will be Tuesday at 3 p.m.
|
for larger version       |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
)
