Tuesday April 23rd, 2024 4:41PM

Baseball: Dawson Co. sweeps; White, Bluff roll; NForsyth beats SForsyth; CHS takes series over Branch

By AccessWDUN Staff

DAHLONEGA, Ga. — Dawson County completed the series sweep with an 11-0 win over Lumpkin County on the road Friday. 

The win coupled with the East Forsyth loss to White County gives the Tigers (19-11, 14-7 Region 7-3A) a No. 3 seed heading to the Class 3A playoffs next week. It's the Tigers' first trip to the playoffs since the 2017 season. 

Dawson County grabbed the lead in the first inning with a three-run burst on two walks from Elijah Odom and Julian Horner and an error to take a 3-0 lead. 

The Tigers added one more run in the second and sixth innings, then rolled up six more runs in the seventh, including a two-run home run by Brandon Cramer.

Joshua Priest was the winning pitcher, allowing three hits and five strikeouts. 

Dawson County collected nine hits in the win with Nick Mullinax, Colton Rucker, Jacson Rickett and Luke Mulberry smacking two hits each. 


WHITE COUNTY 4,
EAST FORSYTH 1 

The Warriors scored a combined four runs in the first two innings and held on the rest of the way to win the series, 2-1, against East Forsyth (18-12, 12-9 Region 7-3A) at home on Friday.  

White County (16-12, 10-11 Region 7-3A) scored on a single by Dylan Sargent in the first inning, and a two-run home run by Nate Bray in the opening inning. Jake Johnson pushed a run home in the second inning on a sacrifice fly to go up 4-0. 

The Broncos outhit the Warriors, 5-4, but could only get one run home in the third inning on a Zach Aschoff single. 

Sargent turned in a five-hit, one-run complete-game performance with six Ks and one walk to earn the win for the Warriors. 

White County's Jake Johnson, Ryan Fowler, Bray and Sargent managed one hit each. 

Trey Farr, Mason Schreiber, Blake Riley, Zach Aschoff, and Logan Pedretti all had one hit to lead the Broncos. 

White County ends its season with the win. East Forsyth, however, will represent Region 7-3A as the No. 4 seed in the Class 3A playoffs next week. 


CHEROKEE BLUFF 16, 
GILMER 0

The Bears scattered 16 runs across five innings to blow past Gilmer in Ellijay on Friday. 

Cherokee Bluff (22-8, 15-6 Region 7-3A) finishes the season in second place and will play host to a Class 3A playoff series next week. 

The Bears scored four runs in the first, two in the second, three in the third, one in the fourth and six in the fifth. 

In the fifth, Caleb Miele, Brett House, Kaden Thompson, Landon Kemp and Tanka Mukono drove in runs for a 16-0 lead.

Caleb Piland pitched three perfect innings to get the win and had four strikeouts. Kemp and Gabe Gowder, in relief, helped to close out the game.

The Bears racked up eight hits with Piland and Miele ripping two hits each.  Miele led the Bears with a 2-for-3 day at the plate with three RBIs. 


NORTH FORSYTH 7,
SOUTH FORSYTH 3

The Raiders finished the regular season with a 7-3 win over rival South Forsyth on the road Friday. 

The Raiders (20-10, 10-8 Region 6-7A) will be the No. 4 seed out of Region 6-7A and will be on the road in the first round of the Class 7A playoffs next weekend. South Forsyth will be the No. 3 seed. 

The Raiders grabbed the lead in the fifth inning, 4-3, off a Gabe Cuellar single. 

In the seventh, a single by Hayden Brown and a double by Elias Gomes sent three more runs home for a 7-3 advantage and the win. 

Hank Simonds was one of five pitchers to top the mound and got the win for the Raiders. He tossed two scoreless, one-hit innings with one strikeout. Parker Adams, Andrew Elkhill, Drew Bentley and Cason Engert all pitched in relief. 

Chandler DeBlois went 2-for-3 at the plate to lead North Forsyth Raiders Varsity in hits.


CHESTATEE 7,
FLOWERY BRANCH 4

The War Eagles came out on fire, scoring six straight runs, to set the tone in the win over Flowery Branch at the Lynn Cottrell Complex on Friday. 

With the win, Chestatee takes the series, 2-1. The War Eagles knocked off Branch, 3-2, in a rare Region 8-4A Wednesday matchup this week. 

The War Eagles scored on a double by Joshua Bull in the first inning and a single by Bryan Cantrell in the first inning. 

Branch (18-10, 15-6 Region 8-4A) tied the game, 3-3, in the second inning when Jackson Freeman and Mason Compton took home on a wild pitch. Two outs later, Nick Linkowski drove home Caleb Edwards. 

The War Eagles, however, would string together three more runs in the bottom of the second on singles from Nick McCoy and Bull to go up 6-3. 

Mattox Miller surrendered three runs on three hits over two innings, striking out two, and was credited with the win. 

Freeman led Falcons with a 2-for-3 plate performance. 

Bull, Nolan Turner, and Miller had two hits each, while McCoy was 3-for-4 with one RBI for the War Eagles. 

Despite the loss, the Falcons will be the No. 2 seed out of Region 8-4A. They'll play host to a first-round Class 4A playoff series. 

Chestatee ends the season 14-16 overall and 9-9 in region play. 

AREA SCOREBOARD, Friday, April 22
(End of regular season play)

Cherokee Bluff 16, Gilmer 0*
Chestatee 7, Flowery Branch 3*
Dawson County 11, Lumpkin County 0*
East Hall 3, Jefferson 2 (GM 1 of 2)
Habersham Central 10, Lanier 7*
Marist 8, Buford 5
North Forsyth 7,  South Forsyth 3*
Social Circle 10, Commerce 3* (GM 1 of 2)
Towns County 11, 11, Lincoln County 1, 0 (DH)*
White County 4, East Forsyth 1*

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