Baseball scoreboard: Buford walks off against Mill Creek; NoFo, GHS, Bluff, Lumpkin, Banks, LCA get wins; Towns splits; Dawson, Branch lose

BUFORD, Ga. — A walk-off error led the Buford baseball team past Mill Creek 12-11 in a crucial Region 8-7A battle at Gerald McQuaig Field on Friday. 

With the game tied, 11-11, in the bottom of the seventh, the Wolves had runners at first and second with two outs when Ethan Murray launched a fly ball to left field. The error allowed Jayden Clark, who singled to start the inning, to rush home from second base for the winning run. 

The win pushes the Wolves ahead of fifth-place Mountain View by two games and two out of first place. 

The Wolves fell behind 7-4 in the fourth as the Hawks added four runs for the lead. However, after giving up two runs in the fifth inning, Buford hacked out five runs to tie the game 9-9 and take the lead in the sixth inning 11-9. 

Mill Creek added two runs in the seventh inning to tie the game and force the Wolves to win it in the bottom of the inning. 

Nate Taylor and Bubba Coleman were 3-for-4 with two RBIs each to lead the Wolves at the plate. Cannon Goldin was 2-for-3 with one RBI, and Ayden Lockett was 2-for-4 with two RBI.

LOGANVILLE 5,
FLOWERY BRANCH 2

After falling behind 2-1 in the second inning, No. 5 Loganville scored three runs and held Branch (11-9, 4-3) scoreless en route to the win. 

James Beaver's single in the third inning drove in the tying run, then scored the go-ahead run on a passed ball to give Loganville (12-7, 5-0) the lead for good. 

Mitchell led the Falcons at the plate, going 3-for-3, including a solo homer in the second inning. 

NORTH FORSYTH 8,
HABERSHAM CENTRAL 2

North Forsyth (13-6, 7-0) scored seven runs in the first three innings to set the pace in the win over Habersham Central at home on Friday. 

Mason Glennon got the NoFo offense going in the first inning when he singled on the first pitch, scoring two runs. 

North Forsyth scored two of the three runs in the second inning off home runs from Andrew Elkhill and Colin Seabold. Logan Curry added a homer in the third inning. 

Kyle Duckwall picked up the win on the hill for the Raiders, allowing three runs on three hits while striking out four in four innings of work. Gavyn Seitz and Cason Engert helped close out the game in relief. 

Logan Kay went 2-for-3 to lead Habersham Central (11-7, 5-3) in hits. 

With the win, North Forsyth extends its region lead to three games over Habersham Central and Jackson County. 

GAINESVILLE 6, 
SHILOH 1

Branson Crawford's two-run homer in the top of the first inning jump-started Gainesville's offense in the win on the road at Shiloh. 

Crawford finished the game 2-for-4 with three RBIs. He also picked up the win on the mound for Big Red (8-10, 2-6), allowing just one hit while striking out 10. 

Riley Valentine recorded two hits on the day and one RBI. Baxter Wright and Anthony Lugo had one hit. 

CHEROKEE BLUFF 15, 
EAST HALL 4

Trailing 4-2 in the second inning, the top-ranked Bears scored 13 runs and held on to run-rule East Hall at home on Friday. 

Bluff's offense in the third inning was on doubles from Caleb Miele and Brett House, a single by Ethan England, a three-run homer by Ty Corbin and a fly-out RBI from Kaden Thompson. 

LUMPKIN 7, 
GILMER 3

The Indians avenged their Thursday loss to Gilmer with a 7-3 win at home on Friday. 

The Indians slowly build their lead, scoring one run in the first, second and third innings, then hammering out four runs across the next two innings. 

Tyler Boggs and Harper Davenport drove in Lumpkin's three runs in the fourth. 

Davenport also earned the win on the mound, allowing three runs on four hits while striking out five in five innings of work. 

Alejandro Narvaez and Dakota Bennett all collected multiple hits for the Indians. 

The win leaves the Indians (15-2, 8-1) tied with Pickens for the top spot in the Region 7-3A standings. 

WESLEYAN 10,
DAWSON COUNTY 7

The Tigers gave up a seven-run seventh inning to fall to Wesleyan at home on Friday. 

It was the Tigers' second straight loss to the Wolves. 

The win drops Dawson County (10-7, 6-3) two games behind Pickens and Lumpkin County for the top spot in the Region 7-3A standings. 

The Tigers led 7-3 heading into the final inning. 

Julian Horner highlighted the Tigers' offense with a two-run homer in the third inning. The long ball gave Dawson County a 4-0 lead. 

The Tigers' pitching imploded in the final inning, giving up five walks, one error and a two-run home run. The Tigers only allowed two hits in the inning. 

Sawyer Bearden was 2-for-3 with one RBI, Joshua Priest was 2-for-4 with one RBI, and Preston Bannister was 2-for-4 with one RBI to lead the Tigers in hits. 

BANKS COUNTY 9,
ATHENS ACADEMY 0

The Leopards lifted themselves into third place with the Game 1 win of the doubleheader at Athens Academy on Friday. 

Judd Spears was tough to hit on the hill and earned the win for Banks County. He went five innings, allowing one hit and zero runs while striking out nine. 

Colin Cordell was 2-for-3 at the plate to lead the Leopards (7-8, 3-2)

TOWNS COUNTY 1, 14
LINCOLN COUNTY 7, 6

Towns County helped its position in the Region 8-A Division 2 standings with the split with Lincoln County on Friday. 

The Indians (6-9, 4-5) are one game ahead of Aquinas in fourth place. 

In Game 1, the Red Devils scored five runs in the top of the first inning to jump ahead 5-0. They added a run in the sixth and one in the seventh. 

Towns County scored its only run in the fourth inning. Kade McConnell drove in the run. 

It was much different for the Indians in Game 2, as the offense came alive earlier. The Indians fell behind 6-3 after the second inning but scored six runs in the bottom of the third to take the lead for good, 9-6. 

The Indians added one run in the fourth and four in the sixth. 

Seth Gillis was 2-for-4 with two RBIs, McConnell was 2-for-5, Stone Chauncey was 1-for-2 with two RBIs, and Conner Chastain was 1-for-5 with two RBIs to lead the Indians' run production. 

LANIER CHRISTIAN 5, 14
HORIZON CHRISTIAN 0, 1       

LCA swept a doubleheader with Horizon Christian 5

The Lightning scored first in the second inning, going up 2-0, and never looked back en route to the 5-0 victory.  

Tres Criste picked up the win, giving up only three hits while striking out three.  

Offensively, the Lightning were led by Camden Hohman (3-for-3), Isaac Dinn (2-for-3), and Joshua Waymack (2-for-3).  

Drew Kalinauskas closed the game out on the mound to complete the victory.
 
In the second game, LCA scored two runs in the top of the first and never trailed, blowing the game open with a 6-run fourth.  

Titus Lulinksi picked up the win, giving up only one hit while striking out four.  

Barry Waymack finished the game to preserve the win, giving up only two hits while striking out 2.  

Offensively, the Lightning racked up 14 hits and were led again by Hohman (3-for-4) and Dinn (3-for-4). Criste, Carter Raulerson, and Joshua Waymack had multiple hits, while Quinn Winfrey and Barry Waymack also added hits.