FLOWERY BRANCH - Everything looked set for Flowery Branch to sweep Stephens County in the second round of the Class AAA playoffs on Wednesday at the Hog Mountain Sports Complex.
The Falcons defeated Indians' ace, Ethan Martin, a Clemson signee and a top 20 Major League Baseball prospect, 4-1 in Game 1 - setting the stage for their ace, Patrick Henry, in Game 2 of the best-of-three series.
But Stephens County returned the favor, battering Henry and pulling out an 8-7 win in the second game to force Game 3.
Game 3 is scheduled to start at 5:30 p.m. Thursday at the Hog Mountain Sports Complex. Rain is in the forecast Thursday and in the event of a rainout the game will be moved to Friday at 5:30 p.m.
In Game 1 Mason Roberts outdueled Martin tossing a five-hitter over six innings allowing just a fourth inning solo home run. His Game 1 performance followed an outstanding outing in the deciding game of the Falcons' series win over Riverwood last week.
Cody Ackerman pitched the final inning to get the save for the Falcons.
"Mason pitched great. He battled and gave us a chance to win," Flowery Branch coach Jimmy Lawler said. "We did all the little things right in the first game. To beat that guy was a great effort."
Flowery Branch used a three-run fifth inning without registering a hit scoring runs on a hit batter, a walk and a wild pitch - all with the bases loaded. Martin gave up six hits and struck out 10 against the Falcons.
Game 2 started well for the Falcons as they jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first inning. But The Indians battered Henry for eight runs - five earned - on five hits and four walks in just two innings.
Stephens County coach Mark Gosnell said things did not go the way they had planned.
"That's not exactly how we thought the day would go," Gosnell said. "Both the No. 1 pitchers got beat and there were more runs scored than we thought there would be. But now it comes down to one game."
Chan Cash got the win for Stephens County in Game 2 going six-plus innings allowing eight hits and walking four while striking out five. Cody Martin pitched the final two innings allowing two runs to record the save.
Flowery Branch left eight runners stranded in the second game, including the tying run in the seventh inning.
"We had a lot of opportunities to score in the second game but wasted them," Lawler said. "We did not recover from the big first inning until about the fifth inning and came up a run short. We're disappointed we didn't close it out (in two games) but we'll be ready (Thursday)."
The big story of Game 2 was the performance of Flowery Branch sophomore righthander James Mills, who pitched four shutout innings allowing just two hits in his first-ever varsity appearance in relief of Henry.
"James was outstanding. We moved him up at the end of the season and he did all we asked of him," Lawler said.
Flowery Branch's Chad Rackley gave the Falcons a late lifeline, pulling the Falcons within 8-7 with a two-run home run with two outs in the top of the seventh. But Bucky Free was caught looking at a third strike to end the game with a runner at first base.
Wednesday
May 1st, 2024
6:10PM
