JEFFERSON — It has been a fortnight to forget for the Jackson County baseball team.
The Panthers were riding high after a 7-2-1 start, including a perfect 4-0 beginning in Region 8-AAA. After Tuesday’s 5-0 loss to No. 7 Jefferson, which included four crucial errors, coach Tommy Fountain had plenty to say about his squad’s recent play.
“Right now only the pitchers are doing their jobs,” he said. “Jefferson is a solid team and I’m not taking anything away from them. But you can’t make mistakes against good teams and we couldn’t catch the ball, throw the ball, or hit it. It may not be a fun practice (Wednesday).”
Jefferson’s Taylor Wilkes, a Kennesaw State-signee, was dominating on the mound tossing a two-hit, complete-game shutout with 11 strikeouts to get the win. The Dragons themselves managed just four hits against Panthers hurlers Coleman Barbee (6 IP, 3H, 2BB, 7K, 5R, 1ER) and Tyler Barber (1IP, H, 2K) but used the four Jackson County errors to score four unearned runs.
Jefferson coach Tommy Knight said they’ll take any win they can get any way they can get it.
“This is such a tough region that any win is big,” Knight said. “We have a scrappy bunch of guys and we were able to take advantage of some of their mistakes. But I thought both starters pitched really well. It was a closer game than the score showed.”
The loss was the sixth in eight games for the Panthers (9-9-1, 5-5 Region 8-AAA) who fell 1 1/2 games behind third-place Hart County and are just 1 1/2 games ahead of Oconee County for fourth place in the standings.
For the Dragons (14-5, 10-3) the win snapped a two-game losing streak and keeps them within striking distance of first-place Elbert County. The two teams close out the regular season with a three-game series in two weeks.
For now, Jefferson and Jackson County will head to Jefferson on Friday in a doubleheader that takes on an even bigger meaning for the Panthers.
“We have eight games left. We’ll find out if these guys want to be part of the four teams that make the playoffs,” Fountain said. “I definitely feel like we’re good enough to turn things around. Our goal is to head to Jefferson and try to win both games.”
Both Barbee and Wilkes worked out of trouble early. Barbee allowed a first inning single but ran into a jam in the second walking a pair of batters to go with a passed ball, a wild pitch, and a stolen base to put runners at second and third with one out. Will Breese beat out an infield hit to drive in Rainey but Barbee got out the jam getting Wilkes to fly out and Justin Cole to ground into a fielder’s choice.
The Panthers had a chance to answer back in the bottom of the second when Brett Bowen reached on an error with one out. But Wilkes stranded Bowen striking out Mason Williams and Andrew Miller to get out of the inning to keep it a 1-0 lead for the Dragons.
Both pitchers then settled down. Wilkes retired five straight after the error and Barbee retired five straight after Breese’s hit.
The Dragons got a leadoff double from Hunter Thompson to open the fourth inning. Thompson moved to third on a ground out by Kasen Rainey and then scored on a wild pitch for a 2-0 lead.
Jefferson continued to take advantage of Jackson County mistakes. Wilkes scored on a throwing error after a dropped third strike on Joshua Hutch and then Hutch scored on dropped fly ball in the outfield to push the lead to 4-0 in the fifth.
Wilkes struck out the side in the fifth and retired 11 of 12 after the error. Bowen was hit by a pitch to reach in the fifth was his only blemish. The Panthers’ Joel Ellis broke up the no-hitter with a single to center in the sixth but was stranded at first.
“Taylor was real good out there,” Knight said. “He really kept them off-balance.”
Barbee ran out of steam in the seventh and was replaced by Tyler Barber after a walk to Justin Cole to open the inning.
“Coleman pitched well. We just didn’t give him any help,” Fountain said.
