BUFORD, Ga. — Buford coach Stuart Chester knew his team was young coming into the season. However, they are not showing their age at the moment.
Despite having five freshmen or sophomores in the starting lineup, the Wolves clinched their series with Mill Creek with a 6-2 win on Wednesday at Gerald McQuaig Field.
The youth played a big factor Wednesday as freshman Lio Garcia and sophomores Ryan Johansen, Payton Walker, and Ian Chafin combined to go 5-for-10 with an RBI and 3 runs scored.
“These kids are very talented as a group,” Chester said. “My whole philosophy is, you know, experience, having those buttons pushed, and being in those tight situations. We try to do that with our schedule, and we've been in some of those situations. That's what you mentally got to prepare for.”
The win gave Buford (14-4, 10-1 Region 8-6A) a one-game lead in Region 8-6A with one game left against the Hawks (10-8, 9-2 Region 8-6A) on Friday in Hoschton. They will have two region series remaining against Discovery and rival Dacula.
Chester said just having the series win does not mean much to him.
“I don't ever feel good till it's the last game played in the region,” he said. “We got Discovery, and then in the final week, we got Dacula. They're a good ball club. If we’re still in the lead when the region's over, we'll feel good about it for a day.”
However, it was senior Braden Burton and junior Kanon Nelson who did the heavy lifting on the mound. Burton allowed no runs and just one hit and walked two in five innings while fanning six to get the win. Nelson got the save, giving up just one run on one hit and striking out two.
“Braden is just now getting back to where he was after being sick. He pitched a good ball game, just throwing strikes and seeing if we play defense behind him,” Chester said. “And then Kanon. He's got that football mentality, and just does what he has to do and throws strikes. When he's on, he's as good as anybody.”
Will Myhand singled with one out in the first, but Burton fanned Nick Felix and got Brady Flesner to hit into a fielder’s choice to end the inning. Meanwhile, Hawks’ starter Charles Ruark had a rough beginning, hitting both Garcia and Ayden Lockett to open the game.
But Garcia was gunned down at third on a double steal and despite an infield single by Johansen, the Wolves could not scratch out a run in the opening frame as Ruark struck out Caleb Griffin to end the inning.
But Burton retired 8 straight through he third and the Wolves offense took advantage of several key Mill Creek mistakes in the bottom of the third. The Hawks failed to catch a pop up in the infield and then Ruark had a pair of wild pitches with runners at third to go with a RBI single from Garcia for a 3-0 lead. The Wolves added a pair of runs in the fifth on RBI hits from Griffin and Vance Bock to push their lead to 5-0.
Burton retired 14 of the last 16 batters he faced before being replaced to start the sixth by Nelson. Mill Creek scored twice in the sixth on a RBI double from Felix and a sac fly from Flesner. But Nelson got the Hawks in order in the seventh to preserve the victory.
