Baseball playoffs: Bluff, Peach County headed for a Game 3 with finals up for grabs

FORT VALLEY, Ga. — A trip to the Class 3A state finals will come down to one game for both Cherokee Bluff and Peach County.

On Tuesday, the Bears won Game 1, 6-4, behind an opportunistic offense and another solid pitching performance by Gabe Gowder. The Trojans answered with a 12-6 win in Game 2 behind an offense that pounded out 10 hits and took advantage of five walks from Landon Kemp and Logan Robinson to send their Class 3A semifinal showdown to a deciding third game.

First pitch for Game 3 is set for 1 p.m. on Wednesday in Fort Valley.

In the first game, Cherokee Bluff (26-12) used a five-run sixth to rally for the win. The Bears had managed just two hits and trailed 3-1 against Trojans’ starter Jackson Peavy, who also had fanned 9 through the first five innings. But the Bluff offense came alive with one out in the sixth, sending 10 batters to the plate.

KT Thompson walked to lead off the inning and stole second and third before Jordan Wilkerson doubled him home to cut the lead to 3-2. Cody Bridger then smashed the second pitch he saw for a two-run homer to give Bluff a 4-3 lead and knock Peavy, who had thrown 115 pitches, out of the game.

But the Bears weren’t done. Tucker Holton, Bubba Coleman, and Landon Kemp all walked and Ryan Reynolds ripped an RBI single and Bryce Fontenot followed with a sacrifice fly for a 6-3 lead.

While the offense was able to find its groove, Gowder was superb once again for Bluff. The senior lefty scattered five hits but walked five while limiting a Trojans offense that came in averaging nearly 11 runs/game on the season. He struck out seven.

Peach County (35-3) added a run in the bottom of the sixth to cut the lead to 6-4 but Gowder was able to close out the win, getting out of a jam with the tying run on base.

In the second game, Peach County scored four runs in the second and three in the third to blow open a close game for an 8-1 lead. The Trojans extended their lead to 12-2 in the sixth before Bluff scored a run in the bottom of the sixth and three more in the seventh on a three-run homer from KT Thompson.

Thompson had a big day for the Bears, going 3-for-5 with 4 RBI, 4 walks, and scoring four runs in the two games.

The winner gets the winner of the other semifinal between fourth-seeded Troup and No. 8 Pickens. That series also will be headed to a Game 3 after Troup won the opener 8-0 and the Dragons rallied to win the second game, 5-4, scoring four runs in the bottom of the sixth.

The Class 3A finals are set for May 19-22 at Rome.

http://accesswdun.com/article/2025/5/1291144/baseball-playoffs-bluff-takes-game-1-win-over-peach-county-in-semis