Jasper, Ga — The third and final game of the most anticipated series in 6-AAA took place at Dunn Field on Friday, March 13th between the Pickens Dragons and the North Hall Trojans. After splitting the first two games of the series, the third game would be the deciding factor. Trailing since the third inning, the Dragons, never gave up and battled back for a walk off win in nine innings.

B. Crawford, would lead off the game with a double. T. Kemp, would follow that up by drawing a walk to put runners at 1st and 2nd. Dragons starting pitcher, Everett Grubbs, would pick up a fly out, a strikeout, and a ground out to get out of the early jam in the top of the first. In the bottom of the frame, Robert Turner, would reach with a lead off single. Jennings Allen, would follow that with a single of his own.

After a strikeout, Dawson “Boogie” Lowit, would drive in Turner with an RBI single, to give the Dragons a 1-0 lead. The Trojans, would get out of the first with a fly out and a strikeout. Heading to the second, Pickens led North Hall, 1-0.

E. Grubbs, would pick up his second and third strikeout, as well as a pop out in a scoreless top of the second. Trojans starter Jake Beard, would nearly match Grubbs in the bottom of the second as he picked up his third and fourth strikeout, as well as a fly out to send it to the third with the Dragons still ahead, 1-0.

In the top of the third, Crawford, would reach with a 1-out single. T. Kemp, would then draw his second walk to put runners at 1st and 2nd. E. Grubbs, would pick up his fourth strikeout for the second out. S. McGarvey, would drive in Crawford with an RBI single to tie the game at 1. A throwing error on a pick off attempt, would allow Kemp to advance to 3rd.

McGarvey, would then steal 2nd. The throw, would go into the outfield, allowing Kemp to come in to score to make it 2-1 Trojans. The Dragons, would get out of the third with a ground out. In the bottom of the third, Kam Jenkins, would look to get something going as he would reach after an error by the shortstop. The Trojans, would get out of the third with a fly out. Heading to the fourth, North Hall led it, 2-1.

K. Foudy, would lead off the top of the fourth with a single. J. Johnson, would then be hit by a pitch to put runners at 1st and 2nd. C. Bate, would move both runners up a base after a sacrifice bunt. A 2-RBI single from E. Etris, would score courtesy runner B. Allen and Johnson to make it 4-1 Trojans. E. Grubbs, would get out of the fourth with a pop out and a fly out.

The Dragons, would go down 1-2-3 in the bottom of the fourth after a strikeout, a ground out, and a fly out. Heading to the fifth, North Hall led Pickens, 4-1.

Robert Turner, would come in for the top of the fifth. T. Davis, would reach by drawing a walk with 1-out. After a strikeout, Johnson, would be hit by a pitch to put runners at 1st and 2nd with 2-out. Turner, would get out of the fifth with a strikeout. Matthew Davis, would look to start something for the Dragons after reaching on a 1-out single. Davis, would then steal 2nd to advance into scoring position.

After a fly out, Allen, would drive in Davis with an RBI single to cut the lead to 4-2. Allen, would move up to 2nd on the play. The Trojans, would get out of the fifth with a pop out. Heading to the sixth, North Hall led Pickens, 4-2.

Turner, in his second inning of relief, worked a scoreless frame as he struck out the side in the top of the sixth. AJ Rice, would reach with a 1-out single in the bottom of the sixth. Truitt Grubbs, would follow that up with a single of his own to put runners at 1st and 2nd. Christian Starks, would bring in Rice with an RBI single to make it 4-3 Trojans. Grubbs, would advance to 3rd and Starks, would move up to 2nd on the play.

J. Johnson, who came in to pitch to start the sixth, would fake a pick off attempt to 3rd, and instead, would throw to 2nd, getting the runner. The Trojans, would get out of the sixth with a fly out. Heading to the seventh, Pickens trailed North Hall, 4-3.

In the top of the seventh, Turner, still on the mound, would need only six pitches to send it to the bottom of the inning. In the bottom of the seventh, Turner, would look to get another rally going for the Dragons with a 1-out single. Allen, would then reach on an error by the shortstop to put runners at 1st and 2nd with 1-out. Turner, would come in to score to tie the game after Lowit would reach on an error after the center fielder dropped the potential third out.

Allen, would move to 3rd on the play. The Trojans, would get out of the seventh with a strikeout. Heading to the eighth, the game was tied at 4.

Turner, in his fourth inning of relief, would work around a 1-out hit batsman in the top of the eighth as he picked up a line out and made a tremendous catch off the mound to start a 1-3 double play. Lowit, would make a great effort to stay on the bag for the second half of the double play. The Dragons, would go down in order in the bottom of the eighth. Heading to the ninth, the game was still tied at 4.

Turner, would pick up a pair of ground outs, and his 7th strikeout in a scoreless top of the ninth. In the bottom of the inning, Davis, would lead off with his second hit of the game. Turner, would move Davis up to 2nd after a sacrifice bunt. Allen, would then draw a walk to put runners at 1st and 2nd with 1-out. Jenkins, would then lace a single to right center as Davis would come in to score to give the Dragons a 5-4 win.

Stats for the Dragons: 

Robert Turner: 2-4 with 2 singles, 1 sacrifice bunt, 2 runs scored, and 5 IP, 0 H, 0 R/ER, 1 BB, 2 HBP, 7 K on 63 pitches

Jennings Allen: 2-4 with 2 singles, 1 walk, and 1 RBI

Kam Jenkins: 1-5 with 1 single and 1 RBI

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

AJ Rice: 1-4 with 1 single and 1 run scored

Truitt Grubbs: 1-4 with 1 single

Christian Starks: 1-4 with 1 single and 1 RBI

Matthew Davis: 2-4 with 2 singles, 1 steal, and 2 runs scored

6-AAA Baseball Standings:

Pickens: 14-1 (5-1)

Dawson: 8-7 (5-1)

North Hall: 10-5 (4-2)

GAC: 5-6 (3-3)

Lumpkin: 8-6 (3-3)

Chestatee: 6-8 (3-3)

White County: 9-6 (1-5)

Johnson-Gainesville: 0-11 (0-6)

The Dragons, will be on the road on Tuesday, March 17th as they begin a three game series with the Lumpkin Indians. First pitch is set for 5:55 pm.