Baseball: Branch rallies for big 8-5A win; Tigers sweep DH; Chestatee, Lumpkin, Bluff, LCA take wins

By AccessWDUN Staff

Posted 10:27PM on Thursday 14th March 2024 ( 8 months ago )

FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. — One day after nearly being no-hit in an 11-0 loss to Jefferson, Flowery Branch responded with a must-win over the Dragons in a huge Region 8-5A game for both teams.

The Falcons scored five runs in the fourth to grab a 5-1 lead and then held on for a 6-2 win to earn a split their series at the Hog Mountain Sports Complex.

Chris Law gave Jefferson (7-8, 3-1 Region 8-5A) a 1-0 lead in the third on a sacrifice fly. But after stranding seven baserunners through the first three innings, the Falcons (6-7, 3-1 Region 8-5A) finally exploded in the fourth.

David Ojeda had an RBI single and Jackson Freeman drove in two with a single in the big inning.

Kyle Adamec got the win for Flowery Branch on the mound pitching in and out of trouble most of the way. He gave up just one run on five hits and four walks in 5 2/3 innings while fanning seven.

London Moshiri got the save pitching the final 1 1/3 innings, allowing one run on one hit with four strikeouts.

Jase Peoples took the loss for Jefferson, yielding five runs on seven hits and walked six in 3 1/3 innings.

CHESTATEE 14,
EAST HALL 7

The War Eagles (10-6, 3-0 Region 8-4A North) completed a sweep of the Vikings for their fourth straight win overall.

East Hall (2-12, 0-3 Region 8-4A North) jumped out to an early 3-0 lead after the first inning on an error and two runs scoring on a passed ball. Chestatee answered with two runs in the bototm of the first and one more in the second to tie the game. The Vikings reclaimed the lead, 4-3, with a run in the third but again Chestatee responded with two in the bottom of the third for a 5-4 lead.

East Hall did not go away, plating a pair of runs in the fourth for a 6-5 lead. But again the War Eagles answered, getting a RBI double, a two-run single from Thomas Martens, and a two-run single from Ethan Dunn to run out to a 10-6 advantage. Chestatee added two runs each in the fifth and sixth.

Dylan Thompson got the win pitching 4 2/3 innings in relief, allowing three runs (just one earned) on two hits, two walks, and striking out five. Brock Moody got the save pitching the final two innings giving up one run on one hit with three strikeouts.

DAWSON COUNTY 12-2,
GILMER 4-1

The Tigers completed a three-game sweep in Region 7-3A on Thursday at home.

The wins moved the Tigers (10-4, 4-2 Region 7-3A) into a tie for second place with Lumpkin County.

In the first game, a win in six innings, the Tigers (10-4, 4-2 Region 7-3A) scored in every inning. However, they trailed 1-0 after the Bobcats opening frame. It was 4-3 going into the bottom of the third after Gilmer scored twice in the third.

From there, it was all Dawson County. The Tigers scored three in the third, one in the fourth, and two runs each in the fifth and sixth to invoke the mercy rule.

Sawyer Bearden, Jacson Rickett, and Dylan Edwards all had three hits each and combined for seven RBI to pace the Dawson County offense.

Banks Hickman got the win for Dawson County, going 5 1/3 innings allowing three runs on two hits and one walk while striking out eight.

In the second game, Dawson County got a solo home run from Bearden in the first and an RBI single from Trey Harvey for a quick 2-0 lead.

Joshua Priest and Preston Bannister made it stand up. Priest went five innings, scattering five hits and striking out eight. Bannister pitched the final two innings for the save, giving up one run on one hit and fanning two.

Gilmer (6-7, 0-3 Region 7-3A) got its only run in the sixth but Bannister retired the final four batters to end the game.

LUMPKIN COUNTY 13,
WEST HALL 11 (8 inn)

The Indians scored two runs in the top of the eight inning to pull out a wild win over the Spartans on the road.

The win completed a three-game sweep for Lumpkin County (8-6, 4-2 Region 7-3A) and moved the Indians into a tie for second place with Dawson County.

Lumpkin County led 4-2 after the first inning and pushed its lead to 10-6 before the Spartans (4-11, 2-4 Region 7-3A) scored four runs in the fourth to tie the game. The Indians scored once in the fifth and West Hall tied it up again in the sixth before it went to extra innings.

CHEROKEE BLUFF 15,
HABERSHAM CENTRAL 6

Caleb Miele drove in three runs and Ty Corbin, KT Thompson, Ethan England, and Bubba Coleman all knocked in two runs to lead the Class 4A No. 2-ranked Bears to a big road win over the Class 6A sixth-ranked Raiders.

Bluff jumped out to a quick 3-0 to open the game but Habersham Central answered with four runs in the bottom of the inning. The Bears scored two in the fourth and then blew it open with a six-run fifth.

Five pitchers combined for the win for Cherokee Bluff.

Six Habersham Central pitchers were touched up for 14 hits and walked 10 for the game.

LANIER CHRISTIAN ACADEMY 7,
JOHNSON FERRY ACADEMY 5

LCA avenged an earlier loss and improved to 8-1 with a win at home on Thursday.

The Lightning used a seven-run second inning to grab the lead.

Carter Sexton led the LCA offense with 3 hits, his first home run of the season, and had four RBI. Mikah Criste, Josh Lebel, Gavin Strabala, Evan Kalinauskas, Drew Kalinauskas, and Landry Boling all had hits.

Mikah Criste started on the mound and picked up the win. Josh Lebel, Drew Kalinauskas, and Hayden Davis all pitched in relief.

LCA next will play host to The King’s Academy on Tuesday.

Anthony Almeroth helped lead Flowery Branch to a 6-2 win over Jefferson on Thursday in a big Region 8-5A showdown at the Hog Mountain Sports Complex.

http://accesswdun.com/article/2024/3/1232798/baseball-tigers-sweep-dh-lumpkin-branch-bluff-lca-all-take-wins