Gainesville, Ga — The Pickens Dragons, came into game three against the North Hall Trojans on Friday, March 13th just looking for a little momentum after a pair of tough losses. After going up 5-0 early, the Dragons, would get an insurance run in the top of the seventh as they would hang on to pick up the win, 6-3.

A.J. Rice, would lead off the game with a single. Rice, would then steal 2nd to move into scoring position with 1-out. Rice, with 2-outs, would swipe 3rd. Kam Jenkins, would reach on an error as Rice would come in to score to make it 1-0. Dawson Lowitt, would keep the inning going with a double. The Trojans, would get out of the first with a ground out.

In the bottom of the first, Dragons starter Christian Starks, would pick up a strikeout for the first out. Ty Kemp, would then draw a 1-out walk. After Starks collected his second strikeout of the inning, Kemp, would steal 2nd to get into scoring position. Kenny Foudy, would then draw a 2-out walk. Kemp, would advance to 3rd on the wild pitch. Starks, would get out of the first with a fly out. Heading to the second, Pickens led North Hall, 1-0.

Matthew Davis and Ezra Faber, would lead off the top of the second with back to back singles. Davis, would be forced out at 3rd as Jennings Allen would reach on a fielder’s choice. Faber and Allen, would move up a base after a passed ball. Rice, would drive in Faber with an RBI single. Starks, would help himself out by bringing in Allen with a sacrifice fly. Rice, would advance to 2nd on the play.

Cade Sutton, would bring in Rice with an RBI single to make it 4-0. Sutton, would advance to 2nd on the play. Jenkins, would keep the inning alive by drawing a walk. Lowitt, would drive in Sutton with an RBI single to make it 5-0 Dragons heading to the bottom of the frame. The Trojans, would look to get back into the game as Thomas Davis would be hit with a pitch, and Custis Honeycutt, would reach with a single to lead off the bottom of the second.

After a fly out, Cole Cable, would be hit with a pitch to load the bases with 1-out. Mills Lothridge, would drive in both Davis and Honeycutt with a 2-RBI single. Starks, would come back with a strikeout for the second out. Cable, would then come in to score after a wild pitch. Smith Mcgarvey, would keep the inning going with a 2-out walk. Starks and the Dragons, would get out of the second as Sutton would step on 3rd to force out Lothridge.

Dawson Holland, would lead off the top of the third by reaching on an error. Trojans starter Jake Beard, would pick up a fly out, a line out, and his 2nd strikeout as Holland would be left stranded at 1st. Heading to the bottom of the third, Pickens led North Hall, 5-3. Starks, had a nice bounce back in the bottom of the third as he would sit the Trojans down in order with a pair of fly outs and a ground out to send it to the fourth, with the Dragons ahead, 5-3.

Beard, would toss his first 1-2-3 inning in the top of the fourth as he picked up a ground out and a pair of fly outs to send it to the bottom of the inning. Beard, would lead off the bottom of the fourth by reaching base on an error. Starks, would work around it with a strikeout and a pair of line outs. Heading to the fifth, the Dragons led the Trojans, 5-3.

Jenkins, would lead off the fifth by drawing his 2nd walk of the game. The Trojans, would then turn a double play and pick up a ground out to get out of the inning. Starks, who really settled down since the second inning, picked up a fly out and a pair of strikeouts in a scoreless bottom of the fifth. Heading to the sixth, Pickens still led North Hall, 5-3.

Davis, would pick up his 2nd hit of the game to lead off the top of the sixth. After a strikeout, Davis, would advance all the way to 3rd as Allen would be out at 1st on a ground out. Davis, would attempt to come home on a ball that got by the catcher, but he would be tagged out to send it to the bottom of the sixth, Dragons leading, 5-3. Starks, would pick up two quick fly outs in the bottom of the sixth.

Beard, would keep the inning alive for the Trojans with a 2-out single. His courtesy runner, Brayden Allen, would then steal 2nd to get into scoring position. Starks, now over 100 pitches for the game, would get out of the sixth with a strikeout to send it to the seventh with the Dragons leading the Trojans, 5-3.

Rice, would lead off the top of the seventh with a double. His third hit of the game. After a line out and a strikeout, Rice, would advance to 3rd on a wild pitch. Jenkins, on a 3-2 count, would drive in Rice with a 2-out RBI double to make it 6-3 Dragons heading to the bottom of the inning. In the bottom of the seventh, Jenkins, would come on in relief of Starks to try and close this one out.

After a strikeout for the first out, Kemp, would draw a walk. Jenkins, would shake that off to strikeout the next to batters to seal the 6-3 win for the Dragons in game three.

Stats for the Dragons:

A.J. Rice: 3-4 with 2 singles, 1 double, 2 steals, and 3 runs scored

Christian Starks: 1 sacrifice fly RBI & 6 IP, 3 R, 3 ER, 3 H, 3 BB, 2 HBP, 7 K on 107 pitches

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

Kam Jenkins: 1-2 with 1 double, 2 walks, and 1 RBI & 1 IP, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 H, 1 BB, 3 K on 21 pitches

Dawson Lowitt: 2-4 with 1 single, 1 double, and 1 RBI

Matthew Davis: 2-3 with 2 singles

Ezra Faber: 1-3 with 1 run scored

Jennings Allen: 1 run scored

6-AAA Baseball Standings:

North Hall: 9-4 (5-1)

Dawson: 10-5 (5-1)

Pickens: 12-3 (4-2)

Lumpkin: 9-5 (3-3)

GAC: 6-6 (3-3)

Chestatee: 4-11 (3-3)

White County: 6-8 (1-5)

Johnson-Gainesville: 2-13 (0-6)

The Dragons, will be back in 6-AAA action next week as they begin a three game series with the Lumpkin Indians on Tuesday, March 18th at Dunn Field. The first pitch is scheduled for 5:55 pm.