Jasper, Ga — It was a beautiful but windy day for high school baseball on Friday, April 12th as the Pickens Dragons took on the Lumpkin Indians in a double header. Game two, was originally scheduled for Wednesday, April 10th, but weather forced a postponement. A decision was made that both game two and three would be played at Dunn Field in a double header. The Dragons, grabbed game two, 3-2 in 8 innings, and walked off game three, 5-4 to sweep the series.

 

Game One:

In the top of the first, Connor Shouse, would lead off by getting hit with a pitch. After a strike out of Trey Payne, the Indians, would catch Shouse in a run down in between 1st and 2nd for the 2nd out. Cade Sutton, would keep the inning alive by being hit with a pitch. Indians starter Aiden Rogers, would get Kam Jenkins to fly out to send it to the bottom of the first.

In the bottom of the first, Dragons starter James Tilley, worked around a bases loaded jam as picked up 2 fly outs and a strike out. Going to the top of the second, Pickens and Lumpkin were tied at 0.

 

In the top of the second, the Dragons would go down in order with a fly out and a pair of pop ups. In the bottom half of the second, Tilley, worked around a lead off single as Jenkins threw out the runner attempting to steal 2nd, and Tilley punched out the next two batters to send it to the third with the game still tied at 0.

 

In the top of the third, the Dragons, again would go down quietly with a ground out, a pop up, and a strike out. In the bottom of the frame, Tilley would get the Indians in order with two ground outs and a pop up. Going to the fourth, the game was still deadlocked at 0.

 

In the top of the fourth, the Dragons, drew three straight walks with 1-out to load the bases. Dawson Holland, would break the tie as he brought in Sutton after reaching on a fielder’s choice. Holland, would then steal 2nd to put runners at 2nd and 3rd with 2-outs. Rogers and the Indians, would get out of the fourth with a strike out. In the bottom of the fourth, The Indians, would look to get something going as Rogers would reach with a 1-out double.

Hayden Gilbert, would then reach on a sacrifice bunt fielder’s choice to put runners at the corners. Mason Hester, would give the Indians the lead with a 2-RBI double. A single by Matthew Mitchell, would again put runners at the corners with 1-out. After a stolen base, Tilley would get the next two batters to get out of the bottom of the fourth. Going to the fifth, Lumpkin led Pickens, 2-1.

 

In the top of the fifth, A.J. Rice, would reach by drawing a walk with 1-out. Shouse, would follow that with a single to right field to put runners at 1st and 2nd. The Indians, would get out of the inning with back to back pop ups to send it to the bottom of the fifth. In the bottom of the fifth, Tilley, worked around a lead off walk as Jenkins threw out the runner trying to steal 2nd. Tilley would then pick up a strikeout, and a ground out to send it to the sixth, still 2-1.

 

In the top of the sixth, the Dragons, would go down in order with two ground outs and a strikeout. Cason Cannon, would come on in relief of Tilley in the bottom of the sixth. He would work around a 1-out double as he forced a fly out, a ground out, and a strikeout to send it to the seventh with Lumpkin leading Pickens, 2-1.

 

In the top of the seventh, Christian Starks reached by drawing a walk on a full count. Rice, would follow that by drawing his own full count walk to put runners at 1st and 2nd with 1-out. Shouse, was able to beat out a potential game ending double play to put runners at 1st and 3rd with 2-out. Shouse, then got caught in a rundown on purpose as Starks would sprint home to tie the game at 2 going to the bottom of the frame.

In the bottom of the seventh, Cannon, in his second inning of relief, forced a pop up, and two fly outs to send it to the eighth with the score tied at 2.

 

In the top of the eighth, Trey Payne, would lead off with a double. Payne, would come in to score after Jenkins reached on an error to give the Dragons a 3-2 lead. The Indians, would get out of the eighth without any other damage done as they forced two fly outs. In the bottom of the eighth, JP Nunn, came on to try and close it out for the Dragons. He started the bottom half of the eighth with a strikeout for the first out.

Rogers, would draw a 1-out walk to put the game tying run on base. Nunn, would then force a line out to left for the 2nd out. Jenkins, would end the game by throwing out his 3rd runner of the night to seal the win in game two, 3-2.

 

Stats for the Dragons:

Connor Shouse: 1-3 with a single and 1 hit by pitch

Trey Payne: 1-4 with 1 double, and 1 run scored

Cade Sutton: 1 walk, 1 hit by pitch, and 1 run scored

Kam Jenkins: 1 walk, 3 caught stealing

Trace Ledbetter: 1 walk

Dawson Holland: 1 RBI and 1 steal

Christian Starks: 1 walk and 1 run scored

A.J. Rice: 2 walks

James Tilley: 5 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 3 BB, 3 K on 86 pitches

Cason Cannon: 2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 K on 27 pitches

JP Nunn: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 1 K on 18 pitches

 

Game two:

A.J. Rice, started game three for the Dragons. In the top of the first, he worked around a 2-out single to pick up 2 strikeouts and a ground out to send it to the bottom of the frame. In the bottom of the inning, Trey Payne looked to get things going with a 1-out single. Payne, would then steal 2nd to advance into scoring position. Indians starter Mason Hester, would force two fly outs to send it to the second with the score tied at 0.

 

In the top of the second, the Indians had the first two batters reach on back to back errors. After a strikeout by Rice for the 1st out, the Indians would load the bases after drawing a walk. The Dragons defense, would come up big for Tilley fielded a grounder at 2nd, tagged the runner heading to 2nd, and then threw to 1st to complete to 4-3 double play to send it to the bottom of the second.

In the bottom of the second, the Dragons would go down in order after a fly out, a strikeout, and a ground out. Going to the third, this game was still tied at 0.

 

In the top of the third, Rice, got the first two outs of the inning via ground out, and a pop up. Tyler Boggs, would keep the inning alive for the Indians with a 2-out single. Peyton Wood, would follow that up with another single. Courtesy runner Colton Lee would advance to 3rd on the hit. Wood, would then steal 2nd. Lee, would come into score as the ball got passed the infield on the throw attempt to make it 1-0 Indians.

Wood, would then advance to 3rd on a wild pitch. Rice, would be able to settle down and strikeout the next batter to send it to the bottom of the third with Lumpkin leading, 1-0. In the bottom of the third, Rice, reached with a 1-out single. His courtesy runner, Ezra Faber, would steal 2nd to put a runner in scoring position with 2-outs. Trey Payne, would then draw a walk to put runners at 1st and 2nd with 2-outs.

Hester and the Indians, would get out of the third after forcing a fly out. Going to the fourth, Lumpkin still led Pickens, 1-0.

 

In the top of the fourth, Hayden Gilbert led off by drawing a walk. After a strikeout, Kam Jenkins would catch Gilbert trying to steal 2nd. Rice, would pick up another strikeout to send it to the bottom of the fourth. In the bottom of the fourth, the Dragons, would go down in order after two pop ups and a fly out. Heading to the fifth, Lumpkin led Pickens 1-0.

 

In the top of the fifth, Aidyn Flanagan, led off by drawing a walk. He would then take 2nd on a wild pitch. Harper Davenport, would move Flanagan over to 3rd after a sacrifice bunt. Flanagan, would then come in to score on a wild pitch to make it 2-0. After getting a strikeout for the 2nd out, Tate Hales would come on in relief of Rice to try to get out of the inning.

Boggs, would keep the inning going with a 2-out single. Hales, would pick up a strikeout to leave Boggs stranded. Going to the bottom of the fifth, Lumpkin led Pickens, 2-0. In the bottom of the fifth, Sam Hammontree, led off with a double. Rice, would bring in pitch runner Jennings Allen with an RBI double to cut the lead to 2-1. A grounder to 1st by Shouse would move Rice over to 3rd.

Hester and the Indians, would keep the lead intact as they forced a line out to right for the 3rd out. Going to the sixth, Lumpkin led Pickens, 2-1.

 

In the top of the sixth, Christian Starks came on in relief of Hales. Gilbert, would reach with a 1-out single. Hester, would follow by drawing a walk to put runners at 1st and 2nd with 1-out. Matthew Mitchell, would then bring in pitch runner Kendal Lee with an RBI single to make it 3-1 Indians. Hester, would advance to 3rd on the throw. Mitchell, would steal 2nd to put himself in scoring position. Hester, would be tagged out at home trying to score on a wild pitch.

Mitchell, would move over to 3rd on the same play. Flanagan, would then draw a walk to put runners at the corners with 2-outs. Davenport, would drive in Mitchell with an RBI single to make it 4-1 Indians. Flanagan would advance to 3rd and Davenport would advance to 2nd on the throw. Starks, would get out of the inning with a strikeout to send it to the bottom of the sixth with Lumpkin leading Pickens, 4-1.

 

In the bottom of the sixth, Cade Sutton, would lead off with a single. Trace Ledbetter, would then reach with a single to put runners at 1st and 2nd with 1-out. Dawson Holland, would reach with a single to load the bases. Starks, would bring in Sutton after getting hit with a pitch to make it 4-2 Indians going to the top of the seventh.

 

Brodie Keener, would come on in relief of Starks in the top of the seventh. Boggs, would lead off with his fourth hit of the day. Colton Lee, would then come in to run for Boggs. Kam Jenkins, would catch Lee trying to steal 2nd for the first out. Keener, would then force a fly out for the 2nd out. Aiden Rogers, would keep the inning going for the Indians with a single. Keener, would force a fly out to center to send it to the bottom of the seventh with Lumpkin leading, 4-2.

Shouse, would lead off the bottom of the seventh by drawing a walk on a full count. Trey Payne, would follow that by drawing another full count walk to put runners at 1st and 2nd with nobody out. After a fly out to right for the first out, Shouse and Payne would pull off the double steal to advance to 2nd and 3rd. Jenkins, would drive in Shouse with an RBI double to make it 4-3.

The Indians, would then intentionally walk Ledbetter to load the bases with 1-out. Trey Payne would come into score to tie the game at 4 as Holland would reach on a fielder’s choice. Hammontree, would be intentionally walked to again load the bases. Starks, would send a deep fly ball to center that would be dropped by the center fielder which would allow courtesy runner JP Nunn to come in to score as the Dragons walk it off, 5-4.

 

Stats for Game two:

Connor Shouse: 1 walk, 1 steal, and 1 run scored

Trey Payne: 1-2 with 1 single, 2 walks, 2 steals, and 1 run scored

Cade Sutton: 1-4 with 1 single and 1 run scored

Kam Jenkins: 1-4 with 1 double and 1 RBI

Trace Ledbetter: 1-3 with 1 single and 1 walk

Dawson Holland: 1-4 with 1 single and 1 RBI

Sam Hammontree: 1-3 with 1 double and 1 walk

Christian Starks: 1 hit by pitch and 1 RBI

A.J. Rice: 2-3 with 1 single and 1 double (4.2 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 7 K on 104 pitches)

Tate Hales: .1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 K on 9 pitches

Brodie Keener: 1 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 0 K on 14 pitches

Jennings Allen: 1 run scored

JP Nunn: 1 run scored

 

7-AAA Region Standings:

Pickens: 24-3 (17-1) *Region Champions

Wesleyan: 13-11 (9-6)

Dawson: 14-9 (8-7)

Gilmer: 12-13 (6-9)

Lumpkin: 12-14 (6-9)

White County: 13-14 (5-10)

West Hall: 7-19 (3-12)

 

With the region schedule now complete, the Dragons will now turn their attention to the remaining three games they have left on their schedule. First up, a road trip to take on the #7 team in 7A, the Carrollton Trojans on Monday, April 15th. This game came about after the Dragons had a game dropped earlier in the week. First pitch is set for 5:55 pm.