Page 4B April 18, 20182
orter
I
By Richard Dumas
forsyth@mymcr.net
After a heartbreaking 4-3
home loss in 11 innings to
region rival Upson-Lee on
Monday night, the Mary
Persons baseball team will
have to win its final two
regular season games as
well as get some additional
help in order to qualify for
the AAAA state playoffs for
the second straight year.
Despite battling back. ,
from deficits twice in flae
latter innings, MP was
undone by its ongoing
defensive woes, mak-
ing five errors that led
to three unearned runs
in its one-run loss. MP's
poor defense squandered
outstanding pitching out-
ings by the Dogs' top two
pitchers, starter Alex Kite
and reliever Trippe Moore,
who took the hard-luck
loss. Kite threw six innings,
yielding just six hits and
two runs, one earned while
walking two and striking
out nine. Moore then came
on in relief in a tie game
and pitched the final five
innings, giving up four hits
and two runs, both un-
earned, while walking none
and striking out five.
MP was next scheduled
to play at Upson-Lee in
Game 2 of the three-game
set at 5:55 p.m. on Wednes-
day. The Bulldogs will then
host the Knights in Game 3
at 5:55 p.m. on Friday night
in the Dogs' regular season
finale. MP will honor its
seniors in a ceremony prior
to Friday's contest. At 17-
11 overall (6- 7 in Region
2-AAAA), MP currently
sits two games behind
second-place Upson-
Lee, 13-12 overall (8-5 in
Heating & MC, Inc.
i
We Service All Brands of Heating
& Air Conditioning Units
Sewing Monroe County &
Surrounding Areas for over 40 years
Free Estimates
Financing Available
Jullette Rd. Forsyth, GA
478-994-6127
Ga.Reg, CU 401419
turn to the
CITY OF FORSYTH
Region 2-AAAA), and one
game back of Perry and
Spalding, who are tied for
third at %6 in region play.
The Panthers and Jaguars
have two more head-to-
head meetings this week as
well. The Bulldogs would
control the head-to-head
tiebreaker over Spalding
as well as Upson-Lee (if
MP wins its last two) while
losing the head-to-head
breaker with Perry.
In an intense pitchers'
duel on Monday; Upson-
Lees Alex Blount was Kite's
equal, hurling seven quality
innings, yielding eight hits
and three runs, all earned,
while walking three and
striking out five utiliz-
ing a devastating outside
curveball against righty
hitters. Trace Park came on
in relief of Blount and was
even better, pitching the
final four innings without
fgaiVing up a hit or a run. In
ct, MP had just one bas-
.A.
Mary Persons sophomore designated hitter Jeramiah Andrews slides in safely to second during an 8-2 home loss at Perry-~
on Wednesday. Andrews, who moved up to third in the lineup last week, had three walks in MP's 4-3 home loss in 11 in- ;"
nings to Upson-Lee on Monday. (Photo/Kim Holderfield) c.
erunner in the extra frames second base, the Knights Mocks sacrifice fly.
against Park, a ninth inning had runners on second and In extra innings, neither
walkby Jeramiah Andrews, third with no outs. Upson- team really threatened
while Park, who recorded Lees Gabe Pollard then hit until the top of the 1 lth
the win, struck out three a slow roller to MP third when Blount, who had
Bulldogs. baseman Aaron Mock, but a one-out single to right
Three Bulldogs had two Mock threw wildly home that was mishandled by
hits apiece to lead the way for another error, allow- righfielder Buckner, scored
offensively. Leadoff man ing Park to cross home what turned out to be the
Cam Agnew had a big plate for the first run. The winning run on a critical
night, going 2-6 at the plate next hitter, Keeter, then error by MP second base-
while knocking in MP'S hit a slow ground ball to man Richards. Richards
first run in the bottom second, but Gamble slid dropped the ball while try-
of the third inning on an home headfirst underneath ing to get it out of his glove
infield single. Agnew also the tag of MP catcherand throw to first on a
scored the tying run in the Knight after a throw home sharply hit ball by Maddox,
bottom of the seventh on from second baseman J.D. enabling Blount to score
an outstanding feet.first Richards. Kite then avoided from third with two outs.
slide on a sac fly to right- a catastrophic inning by MP head coach Clae
field off the bat of Aaron wriggling out eta bases- Mathis said he wasn't
Mock Christian Knight loaded jam with no outs, pleased with his team's lack
also had a 2-4 night for the getting a pair of key strike- of offensive production in
Bulldogs while Ladondre outs MP answered back in extra innings against Park.
Buckner went 2-5, includ- the bottom of the inning Mathis said, "We
ing a second-inning double on Agnew's RBI infield hit scrapped. We played well.
off of the leftfield wall. Four
to pull to within 2-1, and We did a good job of com-
Upson-Lee batters, Chance the game stayed that way ing back when it mattered.
Gamble, Joshua Keeter, until the bottom of the The only problem is we
Logan Spivey and Blount, . sixth when MP tied .it up went to sleep for four in-
each had two hits to lead on Richards' two-out RBI nings when all we had to
the Knights. single to center that scored do was score one more and
After having three run- :pinch runner Donovanthe game was over. We had
ners stranded in scoring Hogan. some pretty bad at-bats
position in the first two ,However, Upson-Lee against that second pitcher.
innings, Upson-Lee got would storm right back
on the scoreboard first on in top of the seventh
Monday with some help with a pair of singles off of
from MP's beleaguered
defense. Upson-Lee's Park
drew a walk to start the top
of the third inning. Gamble
then reached on an error
by MP shortstop Austin
Mock, and after stealing
109D PaVol Road
478-994-9911
apply and manage
)our account online
www.lffc.com
UPDATES
Total estimateOdginal estimated cost
$4,600,000 for each project
Water & Sewer $3,220,000
Upgrades
City Park $285,000
Improvements
Road $550,000
Improvements
Public Safety $470,000
Vehicles
2017
Downtown $75,000
Beautification
second and third a couple
of times tonight that we
left them there too. You've
got to play as a team, win
and lose as a team. I'm not
going to blame the defense
for it, but it stinks because
we hit the ball better than
Upson-Lee did tonight. We
hit it better than them, and
to be honest I thought we
pitched better than them.
We just didn't play defense
better than them"
Three nights earlier, on
Friday, MP snapped a five-
game skid with a much-
needed 7-0 shutout win at
Perry to salvage one vic-
tory in the Best-of-3 series.
Watson was the standout,
the top of the first offofMPv
starter Moore before ex-
ploding
for five runs in the"
top of the second inning.
Perry's Andrew Newhouse "
started the big inning with ,
an RBI single, followed by "-
an RBI groundnut by John .-
Micah Law. A ground-rule
double to left-center off they'll
bat of Jacob Hunt plated '
U.
another run, and then two q
more crossed home plate
on a two-run single to left
by Clayton Davis.
MP got one run back in
the bottom of the third
when Moore scored on an
error, but Perry extended
its lead to 8-1 in the top of .
the sixth on back-to-back '
pitching a seven-inning, ground rule doubles by i'
complete-game gem, Beau Bryant and Hunt,
yielding just seven hits and respectively, followed by aft"
striking out nine batters error by Agnew. MP then "
while walking two.
Meanwhile, MP'S quiet
bats erupted for 13 hits,
including three each by
the brother duo of Austin
Mock and Aaron Mock
as well as Jeramiah An-
drews, who was moved up
to third in MP's slumping
got its biggest highlight
of the game in the bet-
tom of the seventh when
senior Buckner cranked i
his second home run of ~'
the season on a high drive '
to left-center for the 8-2
final margin. Perry's Justin
Eckman pitched a seven-
I thought he was a guy lineup. Austin Mock had a inning complete game, [
that we were going to get team-high three RBIs while giving up just four hits and
on him pretty quick Its Andrews, Aaron Mock and two runs, one earned, whil~I
Moore by Turner Maddox disappointing. We've got to Knight had one RBI each. walking four and striking ",;i
and Gamble, respectively, win the next two. That's the MP led 1-0 through four out six. ,
with Maddox coming only choice we've got now." innings on Friday before Also, the Monroe Coun 'i,
Middle School baseball "
around to score from sec-
ond after MP centerfielder
Conner Watson mis-
handled Gamble's base hit.
With their backs against
the figurative wall, the
Bulldogs made an unlikely
rally in the bottom of the
seventh as Agnew who had
a one-out single, eventu-
ally crossed home plate on
Mathis said MP's errors
on Monday were symp-
tomatic of issues the Bull-
dogs have had defensively
all year, but he dedined to
assign blame to any one
aspect.
He said, "Defense has
been the worst part of our
game at times, but'again
there were runners on
erupting for three in the
top of the fifth and three
more in the top of the sev-
enth to seal the comfort-
able victory.
The win came two nights
after MP was pounded
8-2 at home in Game 2
on WedneSday against the
Panthers.
Perry scored one run in
team was scheduled to host
I#'
Upson-Lee Middle at 4:30. i
p.m. on Tuesday in the '
area semifinals. If Monroe
County wins, the Bulldogs
would likely travel to Gray;
Station for the area chain- :
pionship at 4:30 plmion" :'.
Thursday
4D
MP BOYS
Continued from Front
lined up for penalty kicks.
Spalding missed its first
shot wide right, while Alex
Rivera nailed his shot just
under the bar to give MP
an early advantage. The
Jags bounced their second
PK offthe pipe leaving the
SPLOSTS PROJECTS
Expenditures 2017 Revenue
$16,512.75 $420,575.56
$39,855.30
$136,728.80 $63,226.47
$57,267.68
$26,148.00 $11,453.46
Bulldogs with the chance
to take command. But
Dawson Daniel's shot was
saved by the Jag keeper. So
Spalding had the chance
to tie it up on its next shot
but keeper Brock Hulsey
dove left and knocked the
ball away. Julian Rivera
slid his ensuing shot in the
left corner and MP led 2-0
with two shots left for each
team.
Spalding finally scored
on its next shot in the left "
corner, but then MP's Wil-
liam Atkins had the chance
to seal it for the ,Bulldogs.
He rolled his sho calmly
to the left corner and MP
erupted in celebration at
10 p.m. on a Friday night.
Spalding fell to 7-7-2 over-
all, 5-5 in region, as they
try to hold onto the fourth
and final playoff spot in the
region
Coach Allen Luton said
they work on PKs a lot in
practice and it paid o~
Luton said he was pleased
overall with their play
against Spalding, noting
that the Jags are better than
their record with six one-
goal losses.
"It was a good win for
us;' said Luton.
Luton not6d it shows
the strength of the region
that they've only lost three
games and yet are No. 3
in the region. He said he
hopes that helps in the
playoffs.
On Tuesday, April 10 the
boys struggled for a bit
against a pugnacious How-
ard team that is winless in
the region before pulling
away for a 4-2 win.
Howard took a 1-0 lead
in the first half off a penalty
kick before an Alex Rivera
goal tied it at 1-1. Howard
would regain the lead 2-1
line to the Howard keeper
box and then drilled a left
footed missile into the back
of the net to tie it at 2. At
last the Bulldogs had someq;
momentum agmnst haples
Howard.
Jacob Anthony struck
next to give MP its first
lead at 3-2, and then Wil- 7.
liam Atkins put the cherry '"
on top to make it 4-2.
With the chance to get a :7
lone region victory slipping'
away, the Huskies got pret-'I
ty chippy in the last five '
minutes, drawing several ";
yellow cards. On one occa-]
sion senior Jacob Anthony'S'
was streaking to the end /'
line when he was assaulted
by a Howard defender with
whom he had been jawing"
most of the game. The two
after scoring in the second ' players got in one another's"
half. faces and then the Howard:
Then sophomore striker keeper got in Anthony's
Julian Rivera, whom Luton grill before the referees ';'
had moved momentarily pulled everyone apart and
to defender, appeared to began issuing yenow cards. '.
have had efiough. Rivera Howard fell to 4-9, 0-8 in:"
dribbled from the back region :-
