Baseball: Warriors survive West Hall upset bid

OAKWOOD -- White County coach John Brown was hoping to rest hard-throwing Georgia-signee Luke Crumley until Friday.

But a furious late-inning rally by West Hall Monday night gave Brown little choice with no margin for error as the race for the Region 8-AAA title comes down to the home stretch.

Crumley responded throwing 18 pitches and striking out the side to preserve a 20-17 win in a game the Warriors could ill afford to lose.

"We didn't want to pitch him but West Hall was hitting the ball so well we just felt it was our best chance to escape with a win," Brown said. "It might have been the best he's thrown all year."

The win for the Warriors (17-3, 16-3 in region) assured them of at least a tie for first place at the end of the night. North Hall beat Monroe Area 12-4 Monday to also keep pace. Gainesville traveled to Oconee County. All three teams came in tied for the region lead.

While Crumley may have saved the day on the mound, the White County offense flexed its muscles against four West Hall pitchers. The Warriors belted six home runs, including three by Crumley, as part of a 17-hit attack. They scored in every inning but the third and seventh and rallied from an 11-7 deficit. But they also committed six errors that helped keep the Spartans (6-16, 4-16) in the game.

"We really hit the ball well but we didn't play good defense at all," Brown said. "West Hall never gave up and you have to give them credit."

West Hall coach Pete Allen felt it was an effort they can build on for the remainder of the season and next year. The Spartans scored six runs in the sixth inning to close a nine-run deficit and then held White County scoreless in the seventh to set up a potential come-from-behind win.

"We're still a very young team so I was very pleased with how the kids kept battling and didn't give up. That has been a problem this year at times," Allen said. "We gave ourselves a chance to win and that's all you can ask for. The fact they brought Crumley in shows they had respect for us. We would like to have come out with a win but Crumley showed why he is so good.

"I think this is something the guys can use to say they have the ability to beat anyone if they play their best and focus. Hopefully we'll come out to practice tomorrow and have a little extra spring in our step."

Crumley would finish four RBI and scored five runs to go with his three homers for White County. David Sosebee and Adam Hooper had four hits each and Sosebee also scored five times. Bo Medlock and Kyle Mills had three hits each and Medlock had four RBI and scored four runs for the Warriors.

West Hall was paced by three hits from Chandler Newton, who also had one RBI and scored twice. Jake Shirley, Ethan Stewart, and Turk Taylor had two hits each. Shirley was playing his first game back from a concussion and had a big three-run home run to give West Hall its first lead.

"It was good to see Jake get back because he can do a lot of different things," Allen said.

White County came out swinging getting four straight hits off West Hall starter Turk Taylor, highlighted by a two-run home run from Crumley. The Warriors would finish the inning with five runs, capped by a bases loaded walk to Hayden Cummins scoring Medlock.

The Spartans would answer right back with five runs of their own in the bottom of the inning off White County starter Dylan Lee. Newton knocked in Shirley with a one-out single. Stewart later would double off the center field wall driving in Cody Simpson and T.J. Williams. Taylor would bring in Stewart with a two-out single to tie the game.

White County would come right back with two runs in the second on back-to-back home runs from Crumley and Hooper for a 7-5 lead.

West Hall took the lead in the third getting six unearned runs, taking advantage of three White County errors. The Spartans did all the damage with two outs. Taylor Waggoner drove in a run with a double after Williams scored on a wild pitch. Shirley then capped the big inning with a towering three-run home run on the first pitch he saw from reliever Justin Hester for an 11-7 lead.

The Warriors would rally this time with four runs in the top of the fourth on a three-run home run from Medlock and an RBI double from Montana Saine to tie the game at 11. They reclaimed the lead 16-11 in the fifth with five runs, highlighted by a two-run double from Medlock. In the sixth they blew the game open with four more runs, powered by a home run from Sosebee and Crumley's third homer of the day, for a 20-11 lead.

The Spartans would not quit, however, pulling to within 20-17 with six runs in the sixth inning with RBI hits from Cameron Johnson, Waggoner, and Zach English.