FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. — Dusty Black LOVES boring baseball.
His Flowery Branch squad gave him just what he asked for on Wednesday, taking a 7-3 win over Jones County in the two teams’ Class 4A first round series at the Hog Mountain Sports Complex. The game was called after six innings 85 minutes after lightning and heavy rains moved through the area.
“Boring baseball -- bunting, fielding ground balls, making routine catches -- is what wins games and we’ve been harping on that the last few weeks,” Black said.
It also didn’t hurt that starting pitcher Jacob Miller set the tone early, retiring the first six Greyhound batters in less than 20 pitches, including striking out the side in the second.
“Jacob threw an absolute gem out there tonight,” Black said. “The only time they scored was after he walked a couple of guys. Other than that, he was outstanding.”
The offense took its cue from Miller early. Jones County came into the series allowing just 2.92 runs/game on the season. But it took the Falcons offense less than two innings to double that.
Branch (17-11) wasted little time in jumping on Greyhounds starter Landon Pettigrew. They plated four unearned runs in the first, two coming on a dropped ball in the outfield with two outs and then Anthony Almeroth followed with a two-run single to right.
In the second, they added two more on RBI hits from Antonio De La Torre and Javier Ojeda. A pair of bunt singles in each inning help set the table.
“Nobody likes to see people bunting but we’ve worked hard on improving that part of our game and the guys really had some good at-bats the entire game,” Black said. “We left the bases loaded so I would like to see us capitalize better on those situations but overall I thought we played an excellent first game.”
Jones County (21-6) got within 6-1 in the third and made it 7-3 with two runs in the sixth.
But with just three outs left in its opening game, the rains came forcing it to be called official by the umpires after consulting both teams.
The two teams will meet at 4 p.m. on Thursday for Game 2, with the Falcons looking to close out the series. A Greyhounds win, however, would push it to a deciding Game 3 to follow, weather permitting.
