Dragons Strike on Senior Night, Outlast Ridgeland Panthers 11-10

Featured Stories, Team FYN Sports

The Pickens baseball team did just enough to top the Ridgeland Panthers at home on Monday, as the Dragons recorded the final out of the ballgame with two Panthers left on base to give the team as well as the three seniors on it—Chance McEntyre, Cameron Nicholes, and Joe Powell—a 11-10 victory on Senior Night.
Trailing the Panthers 1-0 after the opening half-inning of play, the Dragons tied the game at 1 with a groundout by catcher Tanner Brumby that brought home starting pitcher Dylan Childers. The team took the lead an inning later thanks to fine pieces of hitting from center fielder Colton Prather and third basemen Eric Justice, as Prather’s triple allowed left fielder Joe Powell to score and Justice’s sacrifice fly to right field set up an easy tag-up for Prather.

Leading the game 3-1 in the bottom of the third, Pickens seemed to take a stranglehold on the game by scoring five runs on five hits, increasing the lead to 8-1. However, Ridgeland wouldn’t go down without a fight, scoring three more runs to make it 8-4. The Panthers nearly made the score 8-5 with two outs in the inning, but a good block by Tanner Brumby followed by a quick pickup and turn to the plate allowed for the sophomore catcher to easily tag the runner and help the Dragons to get out of the inning without doing much damage.

Three more runs for Ridgeland in the top of the fifth cut the Dragons’ lead to 8-7, leaving the Pickens’ fans at the game quite anxious. However, third baseman Eric Justice helped calm all those in attendance with his at-bat to start the bottom of the sixth inning, as he took a pitch on a 2-1 county over the left field wall for a homerun, improving Pickens’ lead to 9-7. Two more Dragons (Cameron Gregory and Colton Prather) crossed home plate in the inning, leaving the Dragons with a 11-7 advantage going into the final inning of play.

Aimed with holding onto the lead for the Dragons, centerfielder Colton Prather made the switch with pitcher Dylan Childers, who gave up eight hits in six innings of work with four strikeouts. Pickens was bitten by the bad luck bug again and again in the bottom of the seventh, as tough defensive plays along with a challenging strike zone allowed six different Panthers to reach base. However, smart play by the Dragons along with efficient pitching by Prather got Pickens out of a pickle, and a fly out to second base secured a 11-10 victory for the home Dragons.

The Dragons have only two games left on their regular season schedule, as they take on Cartersville at home on Thursday then travel to Southeast Whitfield on Friday. Both games are slated to begin at 5:55.

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