ROSWELL — Zane Corley did in eight innings Monday what no team in Georgia had been able to do in the past 82 games.
Corley tossed an eight-inning, five-hit compete game to help Jackson County beat Blessed Trinity 2-1 in extra innings in the two teams' Class AAA best-of-three semifinals series.
(NOTE: Tuesday's Game 3 will be played despite rains that swept the area early in the day.)
The Titans (32-2) came into the series having won 80 of their last 81 games overall. Their only loss in that span was to a team in Louisiana.
The win for the Panthers (20-14-1) tied the series at 1-1 and set a new school record for wins in a season. The teams will battle at 5 p.m. Tuesday in Game 3 for the right to head to the championship series on Saturday. The winner will take on Westminster, who swept Cedartown in the other semifinal.
Blessed Trinity won Game 13-1 in five innings to push Jackson County to the brink of elimination. But the Panthers have been very resilient in the playoffs in 2016 and did not go quietly. They are now 7-0 when facing elimination.
Jackson County got the game-winner in the bottom of the eighth on a RBI ground out by Brett Bowen. The Panthers had trailed 1-0 heading into the sixth inning
Corley was masterful, especially in the later innings. He got out of a bases loaded jam in the top of the seventh and another in the eighth to give his team a chance.
It is the first trip to the semifinals in program histroy for Jackson County. The Panthers can make another historic jump with one more win on Tuesday.
Coleman Barbee, who was dominating in a 12-2 win over Ringgold in the quarterfinals, is expected to take the mound for the Panthers Tuesday in Game 3.
The Panthers are 3-0 and have outscored the opposition 36-6 in Game 3s so far in the 2016 playoffs.
