Dahlonega, Ga — After an emotional series win against the North Hall Trojans on Friday, March 13th, the Pickens Dragons, took to the road on St. Patrick’s Day to begin a three game series with the Lumpkin Indians. The Dragons, came into the game at 14-1 overall and 5-1 in region play. The Indians, came into the game at 8-6 overall, and 3-3 in region play. In a back and forth game throughout, a 2-run fifth and sixth inning by the Dragons, helped secure a 12-8 win.

Robert Turner, would lead off the top of the first with a double. Jennings Allen, would bring in Turner with an RBI single to make it 1-0 Dragons. Allen, would then steal 2nd to advance into scoring position. Allen, would advance to 3rd on a ground out. Dawson Lowit, would drive in Allen with an RBI single to make it 2-0. After a strikeout, Truitt Grubbs, would keep the inning going by drawing a walk.

Christian Starks, would then reach with a single to load the bases. Lowit, would come in to score after Everett Grubbs would be hit by a pitch. Truitt Grubbs, would come in to score after a balk was called to make it 4-0. The Indians, would get out of the first with a ground out. P. Cambron, would lead off the bottom of the first with a single. C. Horton, would follow that up with a single of his own.

M. Hester, would draw a walk to load the bases with nobody out. Dragons starter Jackson Nunn, would then pick up back to back strikeouts. A 2-RBI single from K. Lewis, would score both Cambron and Horton to make it 4-2. Nunn and the Dragons, would get out of the first with a ground out. Heading to the second, the Dragons led the Indians, 4-2.

It would be deja vu all over again in the top of the second as Turner, would lead off with his second double of the game. Allen, would drive in Turner with an RBI double to make it 5-2. After a strikeout, Allen, would be picked off at 2nd for the second out. Lowit, would keep the inning alive after being hit by a pitch. AJ Rice, would then reach on an error to put runners at 1st and 2nd with 2-out. The Indians, would get out of the second with a strikeout.

T. Sullens, would lead off the bottom of the second with a single. Courtesy runner E. Truitt, would be picked off at 1st for the first out.Nunn, would then pick up a pop out and a ground out to get out of the second. Heading to the third, Pickens led Lumpkin, 5-2.

Horton, who came on to pitch in the top of the second, would work a scoreless top of the third as he got the Dragons in order. In the bottom of the inning, Hester, would reach with a 1-out walk. Hester, would then steal 2nd to advance into scoring position. C. Boyce, would reach on an error to put runners at 1st and 3rd. Boyce, would get caught trying to steal 2nd. Hester, would come in to score on the play to make it 5-3.

L. Hamrick, would keep the inning going with a walk. K. Lewis, would then get hit by a pitch. S. Stancil, would reach on a two base error that would score Hamrick to make it 5-4. MT Crenshaw, would come to relieve Nunn, and he would force a pop out to send it to the fourth with the Dragons leading it, 5-4.

Turner, would lead off the fourth by drawing a walk. He would then steal 2nd to advance into scoring position. A ground out by Allen, would move Turner over to 3rd. Kam Jenkins, would bring in Turner with an RBI double to make it 6-4. Courtesy runner Caden Kirchoff, would advance to 3rd after an error. Lowit, would drive in Kirchoff with an RBI double to make it 7-4.

Rice, would reach with a 1-out single to put runners on 1st and 3rd. Truitt Grubbs, would bring in Lowit with an RBI single to make it 8-4 Dragons. Starks, would then reach on a fielder’s choice as Rice would be forced out at 2nd. A wild pitch, would move both T. Grubbs and Starks up a base. The Indians, would get out of the fourth with a ground out. C. Lee, would be hit by a pitch to lead off the bottom of the fourth.

Lee, would then steal 2nd to advance into scoring position. Cambron, would draw a walk to put runners at 1st and 2nd. A single by Horton, would load the bases with nobody out. A 3-RBI double by Hester, would clear the bases to cut the lead to 8-7. Hester, would come into score to tie the game as E. Buchanan, would reach on an error. Lewis, would reach on a fielder’s choice as Buchanan would be forced out at 2nd.

Crenshaw, would get out of the fourth with the game still tied as they would head to the fifth with the Dragons nad the Indians deadlocked at 8.

Matthew Davis, would lead off the top of the fifth with a double. Turner, would drive in Davis with an RBI double to make it 9-8 Dragons. Turner, would move over to 3rd after a ground out. Turner, would come in to score after a wild pitch to make it 10-8. Jenkins, would reach with his second hit of the game after a 1-out single. The Indians, would get out of the fifth after turning a double play.

Tanner Bail, would come in to pitch for the Dragons in the bottom of the fifth. Sullens, would reach with a lead off single. His courtesy runner, would be picked off at 1st for the first out. Bail, would then force a ground out and a line out to get out of the fifth. Heading to the sixth, Pickens led Lumpkin, 10-8.

Brock Teal, would come in to pitch hit for Rice in the top of the sixth. Teal, would lead off with a single. Rice, would then come in to run for Teal. After a strikeout, Starks, would reach with a 1-out single to put runners at 1st and 2nd. Drew Dunlap, would pitch hit for Everett Grubbs and he would draw a walk to load the bases. After a pop out, Turner, would drive in both Rice and Starks with a 2-RBI single to make it 12-8.

The Indians, would get out of the sixth with a ground out. Bail, would stay in for the bottom of the sixth. Horton, would reach by drawing a lead off walk. Bail, would then get Hester to pop out for the first out. Horton, would advance to 2nd after a ground out. Bail, would get out of the sixth with another ground out to send it to the seventh with the Dragons leading, 12-8.

In the top of the seventh, Lowit, would reach on an error with 1-out. The Indians, would get out of the seventh after turning their second double play of the game. Jenkins, would come in for the bottom of the seventh as he looked to seal the win for the Dragons. Lewis, would lead off the bottom of the seventh by getting hit by a pitch. Lewis, would then advance to 2nd after a wild pitch.

Jenkins, would then pick up back to back strikeouts. C. Lee, would keep the game alive for the Indians by drawing a 2-out walk. Jenkins, would pick up his 3rd strikeout of the inning as the Pickens Dragons took game one, 12-8.

Stats for the Dragons: 

Robert Turner: 4-4 with 3 doubles, 1 single, 1 walk, 3 RBI, and 4 runs scored

Jennings Allen: 2-5 with 1 single, 1 double, 2 RBI, and 1 run scored

Kam Jenkins: 2-5 with 1 double, 1 single, 1 RBI, and 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R/ER, 1 HBP, 1 BB, 3 K on 25 pitches

Dawson Lowit: 2-4 with 1 single, 1 double, 1 HBP, 2 RBI, and 2 runs scored

AJ Rice: 1-3 with 1 single and 1 run scored

Brock Teal: 1-1 with 1 single

Truitt Grubbs: 1-3 with 1 single, 1 walk, 1 RBI, and 1 run scored

Christian Starks: 2-4 with 2 singles, and 1 run scored

Everett Grubbs: HBP, and 1 RBI

Drew Dunlap: 1 walk

Matthew Davis: 1-4 with 1 double and 1 run scored

Caden Kirchoff: 1 run scored

The series will shift over to Jasper and Dunn Field on Tursday, March 19th as the Dragons will look to win their third straight series in region play. The Indians, will look to tie the series ahead of game three back in Dahlonega on Friday. First pitch for game two is set for 6 pm.