FLOWERY BRANCH — The Flowery Branch coaches and players wouldn’t admit it publically, but Wednesday’s Region 8-AAAAA showdown against Walnut Grove was about as close to a must-win as you could get.
The Falcons were coming off a pair of losses to Loganville, had dropped to fourth place just one-half game ahead of Clarke Central, and first-year coach Heath Kennedy said confidence may have begun to wane for his young group.
Ironically, it would be a freshman to breath new life into the Falcons, who rallied from two early deficits to take a huge 6-2 win over the Warriors at the Hog Mountain Sports Complex.
“This was a big one. We needed it pretty bad,” Kennedy said after watching Zander Sechrist stymie the Warriors hitters in a solid complete-game effort. “(Zander) just has no fear when he's out there. A great effort.”
Sechrist, making just his second-ever varsity start, scattered five hits, walked four, and fanned five while allowing just two runs and navigating his way out of two bases loaded jams.
The southpaw said once he got past the first couple of innings he found a groove.
“I think I was a little tight at the beginning. I was trying not to think about walking people or hitting anybody,” Sechrist said. “In the third I just stopped overthinking and just went out and threw the ball. I felt good after that third inning.”
He gave up single runs in each of the first two innings and got out of a huge jam to start the game. He was greeted rudely in the first by the Warriors but it could have been much worse.
Jaree Pledger and Caleb Banta both singled to start the game on just three pitches. Clay Baker then followed with a walk to load the bases with nobody out. Jake Love brought in Pledger with a sacrifice fly to right for a 1-0 lead just four batters in. Sechrist got Blake Milner to pop to third but walked Cody Lewis to load the bases for a second time. However, Sechrist fanned Carter Wood on three pitches to get of the mess with just the one run scoring.
“That was a big spot for us” Kennedy said. “He did a good job of making a couple of pitches to get out of it. He’s got a lot of movement on his pitches and he trusted it.”
The Falcons mounted a rally in the bottom of the inning off Lewis, who started for the Warriors. Sean Akins reached on an error and stole second to get things going. He moved to third on a groundout by Dalton Strickland and scored on a single to left by Anthony Grutadaurio to tie the game. The hit extended Grutadaurio’s current hit streak to six straight games.
Walnut Grove reclaimed the lead 2-1 in the second when Gunnar Logan singled to start and later scored on a sacrifice fly by Banta. It could have been more but Pledger, who had walked, tried to score from second on the play but was tagged out at home.
Lewis then settled down briefly for the Warriors. He struck out the side in order in the second and fanned four straight overall. But Strickland’s one-out single snapped his streak and Grutadaurio drilled a two-run home run to left to give the Falcons a 3-2 lead in the bottom of the third. They never trailed again.
“(Grutadaurio’s) home run was huge for us,” Kennedy said. “That kind of sparked everyone.”
The Falcons offense continued to put pressure on Lewis in the bottom of the fourth. Cam Holmes singled to center to start, Andrew Reichart walked, and Trace Merck beat out a bunt attempt to load the bases with no outs. Strickland knocked in Holmes and Grutadaurio drove in Reichart with his third hit of the game. Strickland scored on a wild pitch to push the lead to 6-2 after four innings.
Sechrist took control starting at the end of the second. He retired 14 straight into the seventh inning, including four strikeouts. However, he ran into trouble in the final frame. Wood’s single to center with one out broke the streak and Blake McCoy singled with two out and Pledger walked to load the bases bringing the tying run to the plate.
But Kennedy stayed with the young southpaw, who got Banta to ground out to first to end the game.
Lewis lasted 5 2/3 innings surrendering six runs on eight hits and three walks but he also fanned eight.
The win for Flowery Branch (10-9, 3-2 Region 8-AAAAA) temporarily moved the Falcons back into third place in the region. The Warriors (11-8, 4-3) dropped to fourth with the loss and it snapped their four-game region win streak in the process.
The two teams will finish their home-and-home series Friday in Walnut Grove.
“Hopefully this will give us the confidence we need,” Kennedy said. “The key will be going down there and building on this.”
