GAINESVILLE — By no means does either Buford coach Tony Wolfe or North Hall coach Trent Mongero feel like anything has been settled.
Wolfe’s Wolves held off a late rally by North Hall for a 7-5 win Wednesday at Jody Davis Field in the first of a home-and-home series for first place in Region 8-AAAA.
The two teams will meet Friday in Buford in the second game.
“North Hall always plays us tough, we expected a battle, and they gave us one,” Wolfe said. “But this was just one game. They could beat us on Friday and we’re right back where we started.”
“Really we’re just focused on the next game, which is Buford on Friday. We can’t worry about the standings,” Mongero said. “We’re going to go down there looking to get a split.”
But, a win for Class AAAA No. 2-ranked Buford (14-2, 7-0 Region 8-AAAA) on Friday over the Trojans (12-6, 7-2) would certainly give the Wolves some breathing room. Madison County (16-2, 7-2) is tied with North Hall for second place but the Trojans swept the Red Raiders earlier in the season and own the tiebreaker. The Red Raiders will take on Buford starting Monday.
“There is still a lot of baseball left,” Wolfe said. “Madison County is right there and has been playing very well. Nothing has been decided.”
It looked like it would be a quick day for the Wolves. Buford opened the game with three straight hits, highlighted by an RBI single by Georgia Tech-signee Nick Wilhite and a two-run single by Georgia-signee Justin Glover for a 3-0 lead just five batters into the game.
But North Hall starter Corbin Meelor, after a visit to the mound, was able to get out of the jam with no further damage striking out Noah Ledford and Thames Hudlow to get out of the inning with a pair of runners on base.
“Corbin has been pitching well. He had a rough start but he battled and kept us close and that’s all you can ask for,” Mongero said.
The North Hall offense answered right back. Taber Mongero walked and moved to third on an Austin Adams double. Drew Atha drove in Mongero with a ground out and Fowler Brooks followed with a RBI single knocking in Adams to trim the Buford lead to 3-2.
The Wolves got one back in the top of the second when Austin Wilhite blasted a solo homer run to deep center field for a 4-2 lead.
Buford added another run in the fourth when Brandon Marsh got caught off third after a ground out but was able to beat a rundown throw home to score for a 5-2 lead.
Meanwhile, Buford starter Griffin Jolliff settled down after a shaky first inning. The senior right-hander retired 13 straight North Hall batters through the fifth inning after a walk to Jake Chester in the first.
The Wolves appeared to put the game away in the top of the sixth. A Tanner Alexander single and Marsh double put runners at second and third with one out and Austin Wilhite brought Alexander home on a sacrifice fly to right. Nick Wilhite beat out an infield hit to bring in Marsh and push Buford’s lead to 7-2.
But Marsh ran into major trouble in the sixth when his defense let him down. Austin Adams singled for the first base runner for North Hall since the first and then scored on an error on a ground ball hit by Jackson Latty to cut Buford lead to 7-3.
Chester followed with a single to left and then Maddux Dill doubled to left when the ball was misplayed bringing in both Latty and Chester to pull within 7-5. Marsh finally got out of the inning striking out Clark Hill, who was the potential tying run.
“That’s the type of team we have,” Mongero said. “They continue to fight and never quit.”
Latty replaced Meelor in the seventh and pitched around an error to keep the score at 7-5. Meelor gave up seven runs on 12 hits, walked none, and fanned six in six innings of work.
Jolliff walked Taber Mongero to start the seventh and was replaced by Austin Wilhite. Jolliff got the win going 6 1/3 innings scattering five hits with three walks and allowed five run. He fanned three and only two of the runs were earned. Wilhite earned his fourth save of the season getting Adams to ground out and Atha lined out to center to end the game.
“Austin is very comfortable in that role but we try not to overuse him,” Wolfe said. “He throws strikes and goes right after the hitters.”
NOTES: It was the 10th straight win for Buford. ... The Wolves had allowed just 5 total runs in region play until Wednesday. ... It was the Wolves first 8-AAAA win by less than eight runs. ... North Hall has now lost six straight to Buford since the 2013 season. ... The Trojans are just 4-4 at home this season.
