Originally scheduled for Friday, the doubleheader between the Pickens Dragons and the Heritage Generals got bumped up to Wednesday night due to uncertainty around the weather. After playing their first 13 games of the season at home due to the weather, this doubleheader would mark the first true road games for the Dragons baseball team in 2020. Pickens picked up the win in the first game 11-1, while the Generals came back to take the second game, 4-0.

 

Game One:

After both teams were held scoreless in the first inning, the Dragons were first on the board in the top of the second as starting pitcher Chad Pacas sent a 1-0 pitch deep over the fence in left center and designated hitter Drake Sutton brought in the RBI to make it 2-0 Pickens. In the bottom of the inning, Pacas  collected his first strikeout and needed nine pitches to send us to the third with the Dragons ahead 2-0.

 

In the top of the third, the Dragons took advantage of some timely hitting and a couple of miscues made by the Generals. Pickens plated three runs in the frame to make it 5-0. In the bottom half of the inning, Pacas picked up his second strikeout and needed eight pitches to send us to the fourth with the Dragons on top, 5-0.

After the Dragons went down quietly in the top of the fourth, Heritage picked up their first hit and first run in the bottom of the inning to cut the lead to 5-1 as we headed to the top of the fifth.

 

After third baseman Tyler Vreeland led off the top of the fifth with a walk, catcher Austin Chester brought him in with an RBI single to make it 6-1 Dragons. A weather delay that lasted around 50 minutes or so followed the top of the fifth. After the weather had cleared and they were ready to get the bottom of the fifth started, Pacas looked rejuvenated. Pacas picked up his third strikeout and again needed an eight pitch inning to send us to the sixth with Pickens ahead, 6-1.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In the top of the sisth, the Dragons plated five runs as Vreeland walked in a run for the RBI, Pacas picked up his second RBI with a single, Chester knocked in two with a two RBI single, and Sutton walked in another run for his second RBI of the game to make it 11-1. In the bottom of the sisth, Pacas capped it off with his fourth strikeout to give the Dragons the 11-1 win in  six innings in game two (game one of the day) to give Pickens the series win.

 

Stats:

Brady Moore: 1-4 with a single and two runs scored

Hunter White: 1-4 with a single and one run scored

Tyler Vreeland: 2-3 with one single, two walks, one RBI, and two runs scored

Chad Pacas: 2-3 with a home run, a single, a walk, two RBI, and one run scored and 6 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 4 K, 65 pitches

Austin Chester: 3-4 with three singles, and three RBI

Seth Densmore: two walks:

Colby James: one sacrifice bunt, one single

Drake Sutton:two walks, and two RBI

Alex Snelgrove: one hit by pitch

 

 

Game Two:

After about a 15 minute break, game two of the day and game three of the series was ready to get underway. In the top of the first, Brady Moore led off with a single. That would be all the Dragons were able to get in their half of the first. In the bottom of the inning, the Generals plated one run on two hits. Dragons starter Alex Snelgrove did a good job of limiting the damage to just the one run and getting out of a bases loaded jam. Going to the second, Heritage led Pickens 1-0.

 

After catcher Austin Chester led off the top of the second by getting hit with a pitch, and Drake Sutton drew a 1-out walk, the Dragons were unable to push across a run as the Generals got out of the jam. After giving up a single in the bottom of the second, Snelgrove settled down and got out of the bottom of the frame with no harm done. Going to the third, Heritage still led the Dragons 1-0.

In the top of the third, third baseman Tyler Vreeland drew a 2-out walk, but would be left stranded at second to end the top half of the frame. Snelgrove collected his third strikeout in the bottom of the inning as he continued to limit the Generals bats. Going to the fourth, Heritage still led Pickens 1-0.

 

Chester led off the top of the fourth by reaching on an error, Colby James followed with a single as the Dragons had runners on first and third with no outs. James then made his way to second after a passed ball. No runs came across to score however as the Generals somehow got out of that jam to keep their lead at 1-0. Snelgrove kept rolling in the bottom of the fourth as he picked up strikeout number four and five in the frame. Going to the fifth, the Dragons still trailed Heritage 1-0.

 

In the top of the fifth, Moore led off with a single, then advanced to second on a passed ball. Hunter White would then bunt him over to third as the Dragons once again had the game tying runner in scoring position. The Generals, again got out of the pickle with a strikeout and a fly out to send us to the bottom of the frame. In the bottom of the fifth, despite hitting two batters, Snelgrove kept his composure and got out the frame with no damage done and send us to the sixth, still 1-0 Heritage.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In the top of the sixth, the Dragons went down in order as they were running out of chances to tie the game up. In the bottom of the sixth, the Generals plated three runs to make it 4-0 Heritage as we would head to the top of the seventh.

 

In the top of the seventh, Snelgrove nearly hit one over the fence but would end up with a 1-out triple. Missed opportunities was the story in game three of the series for the Dragons as Snelgrove would be left stranded at third and the Generals took game three, 4-0.

 

Stats:

Brady Moore: 2-4 with two singles

Hunter White: sacrifice bunt

Tyler Vreeland: one walk

Austin Chester: one hit by pitch

Colby James: 1-3 with a single

Drake Sutton: one walk

Alex Snelgrove: 1-3 with a triple and 5 IP, 3 H, 1 BB, 1 R, 1 ER, 5 K on 86 pitches

 

6-AAAA Standings:

(These are not the final standings for the week as Northwest Whitfield and Lafayette have one more game and Ridgeland and Southeast Whitfield have two more games in their series)

Pickens: 13-2 (5-1)

Northwest Whitfield: 5-7 (4-1)

Heritage: 4-10 (3-3)

Ridgeland: 5-4 (2-2)

Lafayette: 5-6 (1-1)

Gilmer: 3-10 (0-3)

Southeast Whitfield: 6-6 (0-4)

 

Next week, the Dragons will continue their region schedule as they begin as series with their neighbors to the north, the Gilmer Bobcats. This will be the final series of games between the two schools as region opponents for quite some time. Game one is set for Tuesday at Pickens with a first pitch time of 5:30.