BOGART, Ga. — Cherokee Bluff coach Jeremy Kemp knew it wouldn't be easy against the defending state champions.
And it wasn't, as the Bears were routed 11-0 by North Oconee on Wednesday in Game 3 of their best-of-three Region 8-4A championship series at the North Oconee Baseball Complex.
However, there was no way Kemp could have envisioned in any nightmare scenario getting outscored 32-6 over the final 15 innings of the series, including giving up 27 over the final two games.
"I'm disappointed for sure. We have to play better than that," Kemp said of the overall series." You can't make that many errors in a series like this against good teams like that. We played bad, and (the guys) know that. We just have to put this behind us and get ready for the playoffs."
With the win, North Oconee (24-4) will take the No 1 seed into next week's state playoffs. Cherokee Bluff (25-3) will be the No. 2 seed. Both teams will play host to the first-round series.
Wednesday's Game 3 was a far different start than the first two games, though, when the two teams combined for 19 runs in the first inning. Thhis time, both teams stranded a runner in the opening frame without pushing a run across. In fact, it was scoreless going into the bottom of the third.
Then the Titans' offense exploded. They got a run in the third before sending 14 batters to the plate in a 10-run fourth inning. Wyatt Land had two hits and four RBI in the big inning for North Oconee.
Three Bluff pitchers -- Tucker Holton, Gabe Gowder, and Braxton Beal -- were battered for 12 hits while striking out just two combined. However, only six of the runs were earned as two huge errors kept the big inning alive.
Senior Nolan Morris went the distance for the Titans, scattering three hits and striking out three in five innings to get the win. He retired the final five and set the Bears down in order in the fifth to secure the run-rule victory.
Ty Corbin, Bryce England, and Garrett Harper had the three skinny Cherokee Bluff hits.
Titans coach Jay Lasley said he was proud of how his team rallied after dropping the opening game of the series.
"Our guys battled after (Cherokee Bluff) had that big [eight-run] first inning in the first game. Really proud of them," Lasley said. "In games like this, walks and errors are compounded by how big the game is. Good teams find a way to take advantage of those things, and we were able to do that the last two games."
Cherokee Bluff was looking for its first-ever region title. The Bears have now finished second each of the past three seasons, the first two in Region 7-3A and now in Region 8-4A.
While they'll have to wait until 2024 for another shot at their first region title, Kemp said they have plenty of positives to draw from despite the last two bad outings.
"We're 2-2 against (North Oconee) this year, and coming into the season, everyone felt they were the team to beat in Class 4A," he said. "We feel like we can play with them and anybody in the state. We just have to figure out a way to get back to them if we can."
Lasley is fully expecting to see them again, which would mean a rematch in the Class 4A state finals.
"That's a good team over there. They beat us twice. We understand that there's a chance we could play them seven times this year," he said. "I would not be surprised if we saw them again in the finals. That would be fun for sure."
