Jasper, Ga — On Thursday, May 7th, for the first time in school history, a boys team hosted an Elite Eight match up as the Pickens Dragons took on the West Laurens Raiders in a best of three series. The Dragons, came into the series as the #3 seed, while the Raiders came into the series as the #6 seed. Head coach Adam Williams, would pick up his 201st and 202nd career wins at PHS as the Dragons swept the doubleheader 3-1, and 5-0.

Game One:

Auburn commit AJ Rice, took the mound for the Dragons for game one. JD Hogan, would draw a lead off walk to begin the game. Hogan, would then be thrown out by Dragon catcher Kam Jenkins trying to steal 2nd. After a strikeout for the second out, Rice, would induce a ground out to send it to the bottom of the first. In the bottom of the inning, Jenkins, would look to get a rally going after reaching on a 2-out double. The Raiders, would get out of the first with a pop out. Heading to the second inning, the game was still tied up at 0.

In the top of the second, the Raiders, would strike first as C. Pollock, would hit a solo home run with two outs to put West Laurens up, 1-0. Rice, would shake that off and force a pop out to send it to the bottom of the second. The Dragons, would go down in order in the bottom of the second after a strikeout and a pair of pop outs. Heading to the third, the Raiders led it, 1-0.

Rice, would pick up a strikeout and a pair of ground outs in a scoreless top of the third. In the bottom of the inning, Matthew Davis Jr, would reach by drawing a walk with 1-out. Davis Jr, would then advance into scoring position by stealing 2nd. Robert Turner, would drive in Davis Jr with an RBI double tie the game at 1. Jennings Allen, would bring in Turner with an RBI single to give the Dragons a 2-1 lead.

Allen, would move up to 2nd on the throw to the plate. Allen, would then advance to 3rd after a line out. Rice, would help himself out by driving in Allen with an RBI single to make it 3-1. Courtesy runner Cooper Helmuth, would steal 2nd to advance into scoring position. Truitt Grubbs, would keep the inning going after getting hit by a pitch to put runners at 1st and 2nd.

The bases would be loaded after the short stop tried to throw the ball to 3rd to try to get Helmuth, but it got away and everyone was safe. The Raiders, would get out of the third after a line out. Avoiding possible further damage. Heading to the fourth the Dragons led it, 3-1.

K. Clark, would draw a lead off walk to start the top of the fourth. After a pop out, Rice, would pick up a strikeout for the second out. Clark, would advance to 2nd after a delayed steal. Clark, would be left stranded at 2nd after Rice picked up another strikeout to send it to the bottom of the fourth. Dawson Lowit, would lead off the bottom of the inning by getting hit by a pitch. Tanner Bail, would then come in to run for Lowit.

Bail, would be left stranded at 1st however as D. Malone and the Raiders, would get out of the fourth with a strikeout and a pair of line outs. Heading to the fifth, the Dragons still led it, 3-1.

Rice, would pick up a pair of strikeouts and a pop out in a 1-2-3 top of the fifth. In the bottom of the inning, the Dragons, would go down in order on a pair of ground outs and a line out. Heading to the sixth, the Dragons were still ahead of the Raiders, 3-1.

Rice, who had been rolling since the home run in the second inning, picked a pair of strikeouts and a line out in a scoreless top of the sixth. Everett Grubbs, would get the bottom of the sixth going with a 1-out single. After a pop out, Malone, still pitching for the Raiders, would force a ground out to send it to the seventh with the Dragons still leading, 3-1.

G. Baker, would lead off the top of the seventh by drawing a walk. B. Shepard, would follow that up by drawing a four pitch walk to put runners at 1st and 2nd. Rice, would settle down to strikeout the side to seal the 3-1 win for the Dragons in game one.

Stats for the Dragons in Game One:

Robert Turner: 1-3 with 1 double, 1 RBI, and 1 run scored

Jennings Allen: 1-3 with 1 single, 1 RBI, and 1 run scored

Kam Jenkins: 1-3 with 1 double

AJ Rice: 1-3 with 1 single, 1 RBI, and 7 IP, 1 H, 1 R/ER, 4 BB, 13 K on 99 pitches

Truitt Grubbs: 1 hit by pitch

Everett Grubbs: 1-3 with 1 single

Dawson Lowitt: 1 hit by pitch

Matthew Davis Jr: 1 walk, 1 steal, and 1 run scored

Cooper Helmuth: 1 steal

Game Two:

For the second game of the doubleheader, the Dragons were the away team, and the Raiders were the home team. In the top of the first, Robert Turner, would lead off with a single. Jennings Allen, would follow that with a single of his own to put runners at 1st and 2nd with nobody out. Kam Jenkins, would then be hit by a pitch to load the bases. AJ Rice, would bring in Turner with a sacrifice fly RBI to make it 1-0.

Truitt Grubbs, would then work a walk to reload the bases. Christian Starks, would then reach on a fielder’s choice as Allen would come in to score to make it 2-0. Courtesy runners Caden Kirchoff and Cooper Helmuth, would then pull off a double steal to make it 3-0. Everett Grubbs, would draw another walk to put runners at 1st and 2nd. Helmuth, would then steal 3rd to put runners at the corners with 2-out.

The Dragons, would again try a double steal situation, but the Raiders would get Helmuth at the plate to send it to the bottom of the first. In the bottom of the first, Dragons starter Christian Starks, would pick up a ground out, a strikeout, and a pop out in a scoreless frame. Heading to the second, the Dragons led it, 3-0.

In the top of the second, the Dragons, would go down in order on a pop out, a line out, and a ground out. In the bottom of the inning, Starks, would pick up a line out and a pair of strikeouts to send it to the third with the Dragons still leading, 3-0.

Jenkins, would look to get something started in the top of the third as he reached with a 1-out single. Rice, would then follow that with a double to put runners at 2nd and 3rd. T. Grubbs, would draw his second walk of the game to load the bases. Starks, would help himself out by driving in both Kirchoff and Rice with a 2-RBI single to make it 5-0 Dragons. T. Grubbs, would make it to 3rd on the play.

After Helmuth was thrown out trying to take 2nd, the Raiders, would get out of the third with a pop out. In the bottom of the third, N. Hester, would reach 2nd after a throwing error. T. Mascaro, would then reach on a fielder’s choice as Rice made a great diving play at short and threw out Nester trying to get back to 2nd. JJ Giles, would then draw a walk to put runners at 1st and 2nd with 1-out. Starks, would get out of the third with a pair of line outs. Heading to the fourth, the Dragons still led the Raiders, 5-0.

In the top of the fourth, Drew Dunlap, would lead off by drawing a walk. After a strikeout, Turner, would lace a double down the right field line to put runners at 2nd and 3rd with 1-out. B. Milton and the Raiders, would get out of the fourth with a strikeout and a pop out. In the bottom of the inning, G. Baker, would draw a lead off walk. After a line out, Starks would pick up a strikeout and a ground out to send it to the fifth with the Dragons up, 5-0.

The Dragons, would go down 1-2-3 in the top of the fifth on a pop out and a pair of ground outs. In the bottom of the inning, Turner, would come in to pitch for the Dragons. Mascaro, would reach with a 1-out single. Giles, would then draw a walk to put runners at 1st and 2nd with 1-out. Turner, would pick up a strikeout and a ground out to send it to the sixth with the Dragons leading, 5-0.

In the top of the sixth, Brock Teal, would draw a walk with two outs. The Raiders, would then pick off the runner at 1st to send it to the bottom of the sixth. Turner, back out there for the bottom of the sixth, would pick up a pop out and a pair of ground outs to send it to the seventh with the Dragons still ahead, 5-0.

Turner, would lead off the top of the seventh by drawing a walk. Turner, would advance to 2nd after a ground out by Allen. After a pop out, Turner, would swipe 3rd. Milton, would pick up a strikeout to send it to the bottom of the seventh. E. Grubbs, would come in to pitch for the Dragons in the bottom of the seventh. C. Pollock, would draw a lead off walk to get the bottom of the seventh started for the Raiders.

After a strikeout, Mascaro, would pick up a 1-out single to put runners at 1st and 2nd. Giles, would then reach on an error as the bases would be loaded with 1-out. E. Grubbs, would settle in and pick up back to back strikeouts to seal the 5-0 win and send the Dragons to the Final Four for the second consecutive year.

Stats for the Dragons in Game Two:

Robert Turner: 2-3 with 1 single, 1 double, 1 walk, 1 steal, 1 run scored, and 2 IP, 1 H, 0 R/ER, 1 BB, 1 K on 31 pitches

Jennings Allen: 1-4 with 1 single, and 1 run scored

Kam Jenkins: 1-3 with 1 single, and 1 hit by pitch

Caden Kirchoff: 2 runs scored

AJ Rice: 1-3 with 1 double, 1 RBI, and 1 run scored

Truitt Grubbs: 2 walks

Christian Starks: 1-3 with 1 single, 3 RBI, and 4 IP, 0 H, 0 R/ER, 2 BB, 4 K on 61 pitches

Everett Grubbs: 1 walk and 1 IP, 2 H, 0 R/ER, 1 BB, and 3 K on 30 pitches

Drew Dunlap: 1 walk

Brock Teal: 1 walk

Cooper Helmuth: 2 steals

The Dragons, will await their Final Four opponent as they will play the winner of the series finale between Oconee County and Calhoun starting with a doubleheader on Thursday, May 14th. The Dragons, will either be hosting Oconee County, or traveling to Calhoun.