This afternoon, the Dragons varsity baseball team hosted the Generals of Heritage (Catoosa) at Dragons Field in what was the opening game of the region schedule for both teams. Heritage, came into the game with a 6-3 record while the Dragons were sitting at .500 at 4-4.Tyler Garner took the mound for the Dragons looking to continue his strong pitching after nearly getting the no hitter against Murray County his last time out. Garner allowed one hit in the inning but that was it as Heritage left a man at 2nd as we went to the bottom of the 1st. In the bottom of the frame, Pickens had their chance to take an early lead, but couldn’t as they left two runners stranded. We’d go to the top of the 2nd still tied at 0.

In the top half of the 2nd, the Generals were able to take the lead after scoring a run. The lead didn’t last long however as Travis Seay said see you later to a ball as he sent it over the left field fence to tie things up at 1. The Dragons had a chance to take the lead in the 4th with two runners on but could not capitalize on the scoring chance. Garner and the Dragons defense worked around a 1-out double in the top of the 5th to keep the score tied at 1 going to the bottom of the 5th.

3rd baseman Zack Moore got things started for Pickens in the bottom of the 5th with a lead off double, Moore advanced to 3rd after a Cam Gregory single, and Travis Huffman knocked in Moore and Gregory with a two run double to give the Dragons the lead, 3-1. Garner helped his own cause with a double of his own to drive in Huffman and extending the lead to 4-1. After Walker Lawrence reached on an error, Wyatt Gooch drove in Garner and Lawrence with a 2 RBI single to make it 6-1. Pickens even executed a double steal as Gooch nabbed home to stretch the Dragons lead to 7-1 headed to the top of the 6th.

Garner sat the Generals down in order in the top of the 6th with Pickens still in command, 7-1. In the bottom of the inning, Gregory hit a 1-out triple to right center and then scored on Garner’s RBI single to bring the Dragons lead to 8-1 going to the 7th. After giving up two runs, Garner exited after pitching a masterful 6 2/3 innings. Heritage was able to add one more run, but Gregory struck out the final batter to seal the win for Pickens, 8-4.

Garner went 6 2/3 innings giving up 3 runs on 5 hits while going 2-3 at the plate with 2 RBI and 1 run scored

Travis Seay went 2-2 with a homerun, a single and drew a walk

Cam Gregory went 2-3 with a single and a triple with 2 runs scored

The Dragons totaled 8 runs on 8 hits

With that win, the Dragons move over .500 on the season at 5-4 and are now 1-0 in 7AAAA region play. Pickens will be at home again on Thursday as they welcome the LaFayette Ramblers to Dragons Field at 5:30.