GAINESVILLE — After just two games into the 2022 campaign, North Hall baseball coach Trevor Flow officially declared the honeymoon was over for his defending Class 3A state champion and No. 1-ranked squad.
A lackluster 6-2 loss to a solid Class 4A No. 2-ranked North Oconee on Wednesday at Cottrell Field will do that.
He didn't say in it those exact words, but his tone during the team's post-game meeting was hard to ignore.
The issue for Flow is an offense that has stuck out 26 times in their first two games. To be fair, however, they have faced five Division I-caliber pitchers in back-to-back days.
But in five of the seven innings against North Oconee (2-0), the Trojans had four or fewer batters come to the plate.
“We’ve already seen a lot of great arms, that’s true. But we saw a lot of great arms last year,” Flow said. “We struck out a good bit last year early on. But we scheduled tough opponents early so that we could see the types of teams we’re going to see if we want to win another state title.
“I just want to see a little more fire and some better competition at the plate than we have so far. We’re just not doing some of the little things we usually do. But we have time to fix these things.”
North Hall (1-1) got a battling effort from senior starter Eli Reece, who went four innings allowing three runs on three hits and walking four, in taking the loss.
But the Titans struck quickly in the first when Reece walked Jack Fabris on four pitches, who then stole second and advanced to third on a throwing error with one out. One pitch later, Braden Smith drove him in on an infield single for a 1-0 lead. Reece walked Gavin Black but got out of the mess getting Cale Stricklin to ground into a double play.
Stiles Begnaud started strong for the Titans, setting North Hall down in order in the first with a pair of strikeouts. In the bottom of the second, North Hall had something working early when Jaret Bales was hit by a pitch and stole second with one out. Luke Erickson reached on an error to put two runners on. But Begnaud struck out both Hunter Brooks and Baker Dyer to end the inning.
North Oconee added on in the third getting a one-out walk, another Trojans’ error, and then a two-out walk to load the bases. Grayson Godbee made it 3-0, lacing a two-strike, two-run single to right off Reece.
North Hall did answer back in the bottom of the third. Hudson Barrett reached on an infield single and moved to second on a wild pitch to lead off the inning. Jace Bowen walked with two out, stole second, and both scored on Bales’s double to left to cut the lead to 3-2.
That would be as close as North Hall would get as both teams went to their bullpens from there. The Titans’ Cole Evilzisor came on in the fourth and set down five straight North Hall batters and 9 of 11 with five strikeouts in three innings of work.
Landon Davis came on the fifth for the Trojans and did not fare as well. Davis walked Smith, Black singled, and Stricklin was hit by a pitch all with one out. Godbee then struck again with a bases-clearing single to center to push the Titans' lead to 6-2 and giving him 5 RBI on the day.
Evilzisor and Conner Harris, who pitched the final inning, limited the Trojans to just three baserunners over the final four innings.
The Trojans were just 1-of-9 with RISP, stranding four, leaving three in scoring position. The Titans, meanwhile, were an efficient 3-of-5 with RISP for the game.
It was the second straight win over a No. 1-ranked team in as many days for North Oconee, who beat Class 4A No. 1 Marist 1-0 on Tuesday.
North Hall and North Oconee are scheduled to meet again on March 4 in Bogart.
The Trojans next will play host to arch-rival Chestatee on Friday.
