MT. AIRY Ga. — Needing a win to try and get back in the race for a Region 8-6A title, Habersham Central was in an almost must-win scenario at home on Wednesday against Apalachee.
The Wildcats, however, ran out to a 4-1 lead and then on in the seventh for a 5-4 win to sweep a home-and-home series with the Raiders.
Apalachee (14-10, 10-2 Region 8-6A) broke a scoreless tie with two runs in the third before Habersham Central (15-6, 7-5 Region 8-6A) got a run back in the fourth on a sacrifice fly from Charles Mills.
The Wildcats pushed their lead to 4-3 in the fifth but the Raiders answered with two runs in the bottom half on a Konner Burrell home run. Apalachee made it 5-3 in the seventh.
In the bottom of the seventh, Burrell added an RBI single and Habersham would load the bases with two outs. But Apalachee’s Nick Valles struck out Hudson Gailey to end the game as the Raiders left the bases loaded.
NORTH FORSYTH 8,
LANIER 1
The Raiders (16-7, 10-2 Region 8-6A) kept pace with Apalachee with a road win in Sugar Hill on Wednesday.
North Forsyth used a three-run second inning to grab the lead, getting a two-run double from Trey Windham and a RBI single from Jake Prince. They blew it open with a four-run sixth as Prince scored on an error, Brady Holbrook drove in a run, and Windham added two more RBI on a single to cap the inning.
Brayden Weems got the win allowing just one hit and one run (unearned) in five innings while striking out four.
North Forsyth will travel to Aplachee on Friday with the winner taking over sole possession of first place.
JACKSON COUNTY 10,
SHILOH 8
The Panthers (9-14, 5-7 Region 8-6A) won their third straight game to pull into a tie for fourth place with Gainesville.
They trailed the Generals (5-15, 1-11 Region 8-6A), 8-3, before exploding for seven runs in the bottom of the sixth inning. The big blow was a three-run double from Wes Ashcroft to cap the inning.
Sam Bradley hit a solo home run in the third for Jackson County.
Gainesville and Jackson County will meet on Monday in Hoschton.
EAST FORSYTH 17-15,
EAST HALL 2-0
The Broncos rolled a doubleheader sweep of the Vikings to close out their Region 8-4A North schedule on Wednesday.
East Forsyth (17-6, 8-4 Region 8-4A North) remained in third place with the wins and now will have to await next week’s subregion finales’ to see if it was enough to get into the region tournament.
HIGH SCHOOL BASEBALL SCOREBOARD Wednesday, April 3
Apalachee 5, Habersham Central 4*
Cherokee Bluff 12, North Hall 4*
East Forsyth 17-15, East Hall 2-0*
Jackson County 10, Shiloh 8*
Marist 4, Buford 1
North Forsyth 8, Lanier 1*
(* -- denotes region contest)
