After the scheduled game for Thursday was rained out, the decision was made to turn games two and three into a doubleheader between the Pickens Dragons and the Southeast Whitfield Raiders at PHS. The Dragons, took game one of the series on Tuesday by a score of 13-2 in five innings and looked to continue the roll they’ve been on lately. In cold and windy weather, Pickens took game two 13-1, and game three 14-4 to earn the series sweep.

Game One:

For the first game of the doubleheader, the Southeast Whitfield Raiders were the designated home team. In the top of the first, Brady Moore and Hunter White led off the game with back to back walks. After a double play turned by the Raiders, Chad Pacas drove in White with an RBI double to give the Dragons a 1-0 lead going to the bottom of the frame. In the bottom of the first, Southeast Whitfield scored a run on two hits to tie things up 1-1 going to the top of the second.

In the top of the second, Jarod Whitmore led off with a double, starting pitcher Alex Snelgrove and Moore were hit by pitches, Tyler Vreeland knocked in Whitmore with an RBI single, Pacas drove in Snelgrove after a fly out, and Moore and Vreeland scored on a passed ball to make it 5-1 Pickens. In the bottom of the second, Snelgrove collected his first strikeout of the game and held the Raiders scoreless to send us to the third, Dragons ahead, 5-1.

In the top of the third, Colby James got things going with a 1-out single, Whitmore followed with a single, Snelgrove helped himself out with an RBI single to bring in James, Moore drew another walk, then Vreeland came through with a 2-out, 3-RBI single scoring Whitmore, Snelgrove, and Moore to make it 9-1 Dragons. In the bottom of the inning, the Raiders did pick up their third and fourth hit of the game, but Snelgrove was able to keep any runs from scoring to send us to the fourth, Pickens up on Southeast Whitfield 9-1.

In the top of the fourth, Austin Chester hit a 1-out double, and his courtesy runner Colby Brooks would eventually come around to score to make it 10-1. The bottom of the fourth saw Snelgrove pick up his second strikeout as he continued his solid outing. Going to the top of the fifth, Pickens led the Raiders, 10-1.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In the top of the fifth, after a 1-out single by White, and a walk by Vreeland, Pacas would send one over the fence for a 3-run home run to make it 13-1 Dragons. In the bottom of the fifth, Snelgrove picked up strikeout number three and closed things out as the Dragons took game one of the doubleheader and game two of the series, 13-1 in five innings.

Stats:

Brady Moore: two walks, one hit-by-pitch, and two runs scored

Hunter White: 1-3 with a single, a walk, and one run scored

Tyler Vreeland: 2-3 with two singles, one walk, three RBI, and two runs scored

Chad Pacas: 2-4 with a double, a home run, five RBI, and one run scored

Austin Chester: 1-1 with a double, two walks, and one hit-by-pitch

Seth Densmore: one walk

Colby James: 1-3 with a single, and one run scored

Jarod Whitmore: 3-3 with a double, two singles, and two runs scored

Alex Snelgrove: 1-2 with a single, one hit-by-pitch, one RBI, two runs scored and 5 IP, 6 H, 3 K, 1 R, 1 ER on 68 pitches

Game Two:

In the top of the first of game three, the Raiders had one of their more productive innings of the series as they strung together two runs on four hits to take a 2-0 lead going to the bottom of the inning. After a lead off single by Brady Moore to lead off the bottom of the first, Hunter White got on base after a fielder’s choice. White eventually came around to score on a passed ball to cut the Southeast Whitfield lead down to 2-1 going to the top of the second.

Starting pitcher Seth Densmore  had an easier time of it in the top of the second as he picked up a strikeout and needed just five pitches to send us to the bottom of the frame. Densmore came up with one out in the bottom of the second and hit a double, Colby James would be hit by a pitch, then Alex Snelgrove came up and hit a 2-out, 2-RBI triple to give the Dragons a 3-2 lead over the Raiders heading to the third.

In the top of the third, the Raiders answered the Dragons with two runs on three hits to retake the lead 4-3 going to the bottom of the inning. In the bottom of the frame, White led off with a single, and Pacas drove him in with an RBI double. Austin Chester got on with a single, then Densmore knocked in two with a 2-RBI double to make it 6-4 Pickens over Southeast Whitfield going to the fourth.

In the top of the fourth, Densmore needed 19 pitches, but kept the Raiders off the board to send the Dragons bats back up to the plate. In the bottom of the inning, getting an RBI single from Pacas, a 3-RBI double by Chester, an RBI single by James, and an RBI ground out by Moore. All together, the Dragons scored seven runs in the bottom of the fourth to make it 13-4 going to the top of the fifth.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In the top of the fifth, Pacas came on in relief of Densmore and looked good in his only inning of work. Pacas collected a strikeout on 16 pitches to send us to the bottom of the fifth. In the bottom half of the inning, Pacas reached on an error, Chester walked, and courtesy runner Colby Brooks came around to score the game winning run on a passed ball as the Dragons took game three 14-4 in five innings.

Stats:

Brady Moore: 2-4 with two singles, one RBI, and one run scored

Hunter White: 1-4 with one single and two runs scored

Chad Pacas: 2-4 with a double, a single, two RBI, and two runs scored

Austin Chester: 2-3 with a single, a double, one walk, and three RBI

Seth Densmore: 2-2 with two doubles, one hit-by-pitch, and two RBI

Colby James: 1-2 with a single, a hit-by-pitch, one RBI, and two runs scored

Jarod Whitmore: 1-2 with a single, and a walk

Alex Snelgrove: 1-1 with a triple, one walk, one hit-by-pitch, two RBI, and one run scored

6-AAAA Standings:

Pickens: 11-1 (3-0)

Northwest Whitfield: 4-6 (3-0)

Heritage: 3-8 (2-1)

Lafayette: 4-4 (0-0)

Ridgeland: 4-4 (1-2)

Southeast Whitfield: 6-4 (0-3)

Gilmer: 2-9 (0-3)

Next week, the Dragons will continue region play as they will begin a series with the Heritage Generals. Game one of the series will be at home on Tuesday with a first pitch time of 5:30 pm.