Friday night, Oconee County hosted Jefferson in a high-stakes region 8-AAA doubleheader in baseball. Jefferson, who dropped the first game of the series at home Tuesday 8-2, swept the evening, winning 4-3 and 3-1 respectively, to take the series.
Coming into the day the Warriors held first place in the region with a perfect 4-0 record against region opponents and Jefferson was tied for second at 3-1. With the sweep, the Dragons now sit atop the region at 5-1 — tied for first with Cherokee Bluff — while Oconee County is slotted in at third with a 4-2 region record.
The first contest started off with a bang as Jefferson’s leadoff hitter, Eli Primm, hit a no-doubt home run to deep left-center field on just the third pitch of the game. The long ball from the junior left fielder was the only home run of the night, but it set the tone early for the Dragons.
Oconee County then responded with a score of its own in the bottom of the first as the Warriors’ leadoff man, William Resutek, got on base with a single before advancing to third on a wild pitch and then a ball in the dirt from right-handed pitcher Kade Seabolt. Seabolt then attempted to pick-off Resutek but airmailed it, allowing the leadoff man to score easily.
Going into the second inning, it was tied 1-1, but that wouldn’t last for long as Jefferson’s nine-hole hitter, Cody Britt, would deliver with a man on second and two outs — shooting one just over the second baseman and into shallow right-center for a double and an RBI. The next pitch, Britt stole second to put himself in scoring position before Primm poked one out into shallow right field for a single and another score.
Seabolt capped off the bottom of the second, giving up just one double and striking out three to hold the score at 3-1 in favor of Jefferson.
The next two innings were scoreless as both pitchers navigated the lineups until Oconee County’s Nate Roberson was subbed out for Brayden Stephens to start the fifth.
Stephens struck out his first batter with a nasty sweeper, before giving up a walk and then a hit from centerfielder Ryan Reed, one that made it all the way to the fence in right center for a triple and brought home the man on first.
The Warriors responded again in the bottom of the inning. This time Braydon Jackson was the catalyst, hitting a grounder into left field before stealing second and then coming home on a bunt from Walker Duvall. The bunt was right down the first base line, making for a tough throw for Seabolt, who missed his first baseman and sent the ball down the right field line.
Seabolt started to lose command, giving up a four-pitch walk to Brady Fountain and throwing a couple of passed balls, which allowed Duvall to score, so Jefferson brought in Owen Loftice. Only up one score, the right-hander delivered for the Dragons with a man on second and two outs, getting the batter to chop one right to the third baseman for a groundout.
Both pitchers held serve in the sixth and in the bottom of the seventh, the Warriors struck a couple balls really well, but ultimately couldn’t get a hit to start a rally and fell 4-3.
With the series tied at one a piece, the region opponents headed into the nightcap for a rubber match. The second game was marked by missed scoring opportunities, as the two teams went a combined 4-for-17 on at-bats with runners in scoring position.
In the bottom of the first, Oconee County already had one of those scoring opportunities with Brody Christopher on second and two outs. Blake Thomas, who was also pitching for the Warriors, delivered first with a tough-to-handle ground ball to put men at the corners, but then Roberson left one just short of the warning track for the third out.
The next inning, the Warriors also had a chance to score with McCormick on second by way of a single and subsequent sac bunt from Jackson, but second baseman Daniel Coker snagged Duvall’s line drive and doubled up McCormick via a throw to second.
In the top of the third, Thomas, who had cruised through the first two innings, found himself in a jam after a fielding error and two walks had the bases loaded with no outs. Three-hole hitter Landry Boling then worked a tough at-bat before delivering for the Dragons, dropping a hit into center field for a single and two RBIs to make it 2-0.
With still no outs and runners on first and second, Thomas made a huge play, as Jackson Sims tried to lay a bunt on the third base line but hung it in the air a bit allowing Thomas to make a full-speed diving catch and keep the baserunners at bay.
The next batter, Coker, uncorked one through the left side of the infield but the base runner from second tripped on the bag rounding third, so the bases were left loaded. Then Dylan Verdi lined one right to Christopher at first base, where he caught it in the air and stepped on first to get Oconee County out of the jam with Jefferson still leading 2-0.
Jefferson had another opportunity in the top of the fourth with catcher Chance Gravitt on second and one out, but Thomas came in clutch with back-to-back strikeouts to end the threat.
In the top of the fifth, Thomas exited the game after Reed doubled, and Oconee County would call on Christopher to hold the deficit at two.
After a walk and a line out, there were men on first and second with one out. Reed then tried to steal third and catcher Reed Jackson threw a hard two hopper to get him out, but the ball went under the glove of Christopher and into the outfield, allowing Reed to score.
Oconee County wasn’t able to respond in the bottom of the fifth and with the deficit now at three the Warriors needed to score soon.
That chance came in the bottom of the sixth where Thomas worked a walk, Roberson singled up the middle and McCormick earned a walk to load the bases with two outs. With the pressure on Jefferson, the Dragons turned to Britt in relief to continue starting right-hander Reece Romans’ scoreless streak.
In the high-stakes situation, Britt threw four straight balls and walked in a runner to make it 3-1. After a fifth straight ball, Duvall swung on a 1-0 count and poked the ball just over the pitcher’s head and right to Coker who grabbed it and stepped on the bag to end the inning.
That was Oconee County’s best shot to mount a comeback as the bottom of the seventh saw Caleb Streer fly out to deep left center, and then after Britt intentionally walked Resutek, Fountain hit a hard grounder into a double play to end the game.
“I thought for the most part it was just good baseball for those two games and unfortunately we just didn’t come out on top,” Oconee County head baseball coach Mitch Holloway said after the game. “We’ve always preached and instilled… trying to keep the foot on the gas, being together, having guys pick each other up, so it wasn’t a question of whether that was there tonight because it was 100% there.”
As for the visitors, clutch pitching down the stretch was really the area that sealed the deal in both games.
“Yeah man, that guy —- he’s a dog,” Jefferson head coach Kyle Hardy said of Britt closing out the second game. “He’s logged a lot of critical innings for us in his career. He’s not scared of a moment. And I’ll be honest with you, our offense has kind of been our catalyst and carried us all year, but we did not have a very good week swinging the bat. Hats off to Oconee — their pitchers, they have a great pitching staff and they did a good job of keeping us off balance.”
Next week, the Dragons will take on Cherokee Bluff in a three game series, while Oconee County will look to bounce back against West Hall.