FLOWERY BRANCH Ga. — Tess Kemp issued the challenge. The Cherokee Bluff baseball faithful answered the call.
As a result, the No. 5-ranked Bears used an electric atmosphere at Bluff Ballpark to stage an impressive 9-5 and 11-3 sweep over No. 2 Wayne County on Monday in the quarterfinals of the Class 4A playoffs.
“My wife challenged the student body because we knew Wayne County was bringing a couple of bus loads,” Bluff coach Jeremy Kemp said. “They answered and showed up in droves. That was awesome to see.”
The big crowd also played a huge part in helping the Bears (30-4) take control of the series early. After the Yellow Jackets (28-8) scored a run in the first inning to open the series, Bluff responded.
Ethan England doubled in two runs and then scored two pitches later on Jakob Vokal’s two-run homer to left for a 4-1 lead.
“To see that kind of a crowd support us was awesome,” said Vokal, who finished the series 2-for-6 with 6 RBI, a double, a home run, and scored three runs. “The atmosphere was just one of those moments I’ll never be able to relive. Just awesome. The crowd was a huge factor because even when we got down a couple of times they were loud the entire time and kept us up.”
The series win also propels Bluff into the Final Four for the first time in program history. They will await the Holy Innocents’/Troup winner in the semifinals. Those two teams split their first two games on Monday, with Troup winning Game 1, 7-4, and Holy Innocents’ taking a 12-3 win in Game 2.
“I feel so happy for these guys to get to this point,” Kemp said. “We had a crossroads after East Forsyth took two of three from us. They’ve responded and played great since then.”
The two wins pushed the Bears’ win streak to 14 straight.
The semifinal series is scheduled to begin on Saturday at Bluff Ballpark. All they need is a time and a team as they will get a chance to advance to the programs’s -- and the school’s -- first-ever state title game or series for any team.
Game 1: Bluff 9, Wayne County 5
The Yellow Jackets struck first in the bottom of the first with an unearned run when Nic Thomas singled, moved to second on an error, and scored on a single by Gavin Mixon for a 1-0 lead.
The Bears answered right back in the bottom of the inning against Mixon. England doubled in two runs and then scored two pitches later on Vokal’s two-run homer to left for a 4-1 lead.
Wayne County cut into the lead in the third when Tyler Walling lofted a two-run homer to left for the Jackets to trim the lead to a one-run deficit. Bluff stole a run back when Vokal was hit by a pitch, moved to second on a bunt, and scored on a throwing error on a steal of third.
Bluff blew it open in the bottom of the fourth. Mixon ran into trouble, and the Jackets brought in Cade Lynn, who had runners on the corners and no outs. Lynn walked Ty Corbin, and then KT Thompson knocked in one run, and another scored on an error to push the lead to 8-3.
Mixon went three-plus innings, surrendering seven runs (just four earned) on six hits and a walk.
The Jackets were poised for a big inning in the top of the fifth, already plating one run to make it 8-4 and having runners at the corners with just one out. But a beautiful double play started by second baseman Landon Kemp to shortstop England to Vokal snuffed out the rally with no further damage and brought a raucous Bears crowd to its feet.
Tanaka Mukono doubled in Bubba Coleman to get the run back for a 9-4 lead heading to the sixth. Wayne County added a run in the sixth and chased starter Tucker Holton, who went 5 1/3 innings to get the win, allowed five runs (four earned) on nine hits and struck out three. Jack Sparks came on and got out of a one-out jam to keep it a 9-5 lead.
Sparks closed out the win, working around an error and a hit in the seventh and striking out Eli Grantham and Rowan Blanton to end the game.
Game 2: Bluff 11, Wayne County 3
The Yellow Jackets opened the second game with two runs against Gabe Gowder, banging out three hits and a sacrifice fly. Rowan Blanton opened on the mound, retiring five of the first six Bluff batters.
But Blanton ran into huge trouble in the third. He hit the first two batters, gave up a single to Corbin, and walked both Thompson and Caleb Miele with the bases loaded with no outs to tie the game at 2-2.
Vokal then ripped a three-run double to the wall to reclaim a 5-2 lead for the Bears with still just one out in the third. That knocked Blanton out of the game. Kemp followed with a single to right, knocking in Vokal to push the lead to 6-2 as they sent 10 batters to the plate.
Bluff continued to put pressure on. Mukono led off the fourth with a solo home run and Corbin walked and scored on a single from Miele to make it 8-2. A Vokal sacrifice fly made it 9-2. Thompson and Davis both added RBI hits to push it 11-2 in the fifth.
Gowder eventually ran out of gas in the sixth after a tremendous performance. He went 5 1/3 scattering six hits, one walk, fanned three, and gave up just the two runs in the first inning to get the win.
Logan Robinson closed out the series, pitching the final 1 2/3 for the Bears, allowing one run on two hits to send them into the semifinals.
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