Dragons shut out Tallulah Falls on Senior Night

PHS Baseball, Team FYN Sports

Jasper, Ga — It was a great day to celebrate as the Pickens Dragons hosted the Tallulah Falls Indians on Friday, April 21st for Senior Night. Prior to the ball game, the Dragons recognized their 4 Seniors from the 2023 class. Colby Brooks, Evan Giddens, Tee Knight, and Harlan Will were honored for their contributions to the Pickens baseball program. Their parents, threw out the first pitch to their sons to close out the ceremony. The Dragons, picked up their 26th win of the season with a 5-0 shut out of the Indians.

 

In the top of the first, Dragons starter Tee Knight, worked around a 1-out walk as he got some help from his defense as Connor Shouse picked up a ball that dropped in the outfield and threw a strike to Senior Evan Giddens who tagged out the runner for the 2nd out. Knight, picked up his 1st strikeout to send it to the bottom of the inning. In the bottom of the frame, Shouse, Trace Ledbetter, and Dawson Holland all reached on consecutive walks to load the bases.

Senior Harlan Will, drove in Shouse with a sacrifice fly RBI to make it 1-0. After a single from Tyler Payne to load the bases again, Trey Payne brought in Ledbetter with an RBI single to make it 2-0. James Tilley, drove in Holland with a sacrifice fly RBI to make it 3-0 Dragons going to the second.

 

In the top of the second, Knight, worked around a lead off single as he got back to back pop ups an his 2nd strikeout to send it to the bottom of the inning. In the bottom of the second, Senior Colby Brooks led off with an infield single. Brooks, advanced to 3rd on a 1-out single by Ledbetter. The Dragons, then pulled off a double steal as Ledbetter stopped halfway to 2nd which allowed Brooks to come in and score to make it 4-0 going to the third.

 

In the top of the third, after getting a fly out for the 1st out of the frame, Knight would be relieved by Tate Hales. Hales, worked around a 1-out walk to get a fly out and a strikeout to send it to the bottom of the third. In the bottom of the third, Tyler Payne, reached on a 1-out single. Trey Payne, would reach on a fielder’s choice as pitch runner Davin Abernathy would be throw out at 2nd.

The Indians starter, Andrew Skvarka, got out of the bottom of the third with another ground out to send it to the fourth with the Dragons leading, 4-0.

 

In the top of the fourth, Hales would be relieved by Cason Cannon. Cannon, had an impressive outing as he picked up 2 strikeouts and a fly out on 8 pitches to send it to the bottom of the fourth. In the bottom of the fourth, Giddens, led off with a single. He would advance to 3rd on the play after a 2-base error. Shouse, brought in Giddens with a sacrifice fly RBI to make it 5-0 Dragons going to the fifth.

 

In the top of the fifth, Cannon, continued his fantastic outing as he picked up two more strikeouts and a ground out to short in a clean fifth inning. In the bottom of the fifth, Sam Hammontree, who came in for Tyler Payne, reached on a 2-out single. Hammontree, would advance to 3rd after Trey Payne reached on an error. They would be left stranded and the game would go to the sixth, with the Dragons still leading, 5-0.

 

In the top of the sixth, JP Nunn came on in relief of Cannon. The Indians, had their first big threat of the game as they loaded the bases with nobody out. Nunn, got out of the jam with back to back strikeouts and a pop up to 1st to send it to the bottom of the sixth. In the bottom of the sixth, Giddens, again led off with a single. After Shouse reached with a 1-out single, Christian Starks, who came on for Holland in the fifth, got on with a 2-out walk to load the bases.

The Indians, were able to get out of their own bases loaded jam to send it to the top of the seventh with the Dragons ahead, 5-0.

 

Nunn, came back out for the top of the seventh to close things out. Nunn did just that as he had a clean 1-2-3 inning with 2 strikeouts and a ground out to short as the Dragons picked up the win, 5-0.

 

Stats for the Dragons:

Connor Shouse: 1-2 with a single, a walk, 1 RBI, and 1 run scored

Trace Ledbetter: 1-3 with a single, a walk, and 1 run scored

Dawson Holland: 1 walk, and 1 run scored

Christian Starks: 1 walk

Harlan Will: 1 RBI

Tyler Payne: 2-2 with 2 singles

Sam Hammontree: 1-1 with a single

Trey Payne: 1-3 with a single and 1 RBI

James Tilley: 1 RBI

Evan Giddens: 2-3 with 2 singles and 1 run scored

Colby Brooks: 1-2 with a single and 1 run scored

Tee Knight: 2.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 2 K on 40 pitches

Tate Hales: .2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 1 K on 19 pitches

Cason Cannon: 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 4 K, on 25 pitches

JP Nunn: 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 3 HBP, 4 K, on 27 pitches

 

The Dragons, finish the regular season at 26-4 overall and 7-AAA region champions. Next up for the Dragons, a first round best of 3 series with the Hart County Bulldogs in the GHSA 3A State Baseball Tournament. The Bulldogs, are the #4 seed out of region 8. The best of 3 series begins on Monday, April 24th with a doubleheader at Dunn Field. First pitch for game 1 is set for 5:00 pm.

Dragons defeat Shiloh in non-region action

PHS Baseball, Team FYN Sports

Snellvelle, Ga — What a warm day for baseball it was on Wednesday, April 19th as the Pickens Dragons made the trip down to Snellville to take on the Shiloh Generals in non-region action. The Generals, are out of region 8 in the 6A classification.  The bats for the Dragons, were just as hot as the weather as they scored 10 runs in the 4th in route to a 13-2 win in 5 innings.

 

In the top of the first, Trace Ledbetter reached by drawing a 1-out walk. He would be left stranded as Generals starter Rodney Mudd, got a fly out and a ground out to go along with a strikeout to send it to the bottom of the first. In the bottom of the frame, Dragons starter Trey Payne, worked around DuShawn Andrews reaching on a dropped 3rd strike, and Nicholas Johnson getting hit by a pitch with 1-out, as he picked up his 1st strikeout and a ground out.

Going to the top of the second, the Dragons and Generals were tied up at 0.

 

In the top of the second, Dawson Holland led off with a single. He then advanced to 2nd on an error. Freshman Kam Jenkins, drove him in with an RBI single to make it 1-0 Dragons. After a 2-out single by Senior Young Harris commit Evan Giddens reached with a single, Colby Brooks would bring Jenkins in on the fielder’s choice to make it 2-0 Dragons going to the bottom of the second.

In the bottom of the second, Anthony Vu led off with a single. Vu, would advance to 2nd after a sacrifice bunt from Malcolm Robinson. David Johnson, drove in Vu with an RBI double to cut the Dragons lead down to 2-1. Jaden Mercedes, would move Johnson over to 3rd on a sacrifice bunt. Johnson, would come in to score on a wild pitch to tie the game at 2 going to the top of the third.

 

In the top of the third, the Dragons tried to get a little 2-out rally going as Holland would draw a full count walk, and Jenkins would get hit with a pitch on a 3-0 count. Mudd, got a pop up to 2nd for the third out to send it to the bottom half of the inning. In the bottom of the third, Trey Payne, worked around a lead off single by Andrews as he picked up 2 strikeouts and a ground out to send it to the fourth inning still tied at 2.

 

In the top of the fourth, the Dragons, broke the game open as they plated 10 runs on 6 hits, 3 walks, a balk, and a passed ball to lead it 12-2 going to the bottom of the fourth. In the bottom of the fourth, Prep Baseball Georgia Player of the Week James Tilley, came on in relief of Trey Payne and picked up a 1-2-3 inning with a ground out, a strikeout, and a pop up to send it to the fifth with the Dragons leading, 12-2.

 

In the top of the fifth, Holland and Tilley both reached on 1-out walks. Giddens, drove in Holland with an RBI single to make it 13-2 Dragons going to the bottom of the fifth. In the bottom of the fifth, Junior Ga Tech commit Connor Shouse, came on in relief of Tilley. Shouse, worked around a 1-out hit batter as he struck out 2 and induced a ground out as the Dragons defeat the Generals, 13-2 in 5 innings.

 

Stats for the Dragons:

Connor Shouse: 2-4 with a single, a double, 2 RBI, and 1 run scored & 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 HBP, 2 K on 13 pitches

Trace Ledbetter: 1-3 with a single, a walk, and 1 run scored

Trey Payne: 1-4 with 1 single, 2 RBI, and 1 run scored & 3 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 1 HBP, 3 K on 40 pitches

Harlan Will: 1 walk and 1 run scored

Dawson Holland: 2-2 with 2 singles, 2 walks, 1 RBI, and 3 runs scored

Kam Jenkins: 1-1 with 1 single, 1 HBP, 1 RBI, and 1 run scored

Tyler Payne: 1 walk and 1 run scored

Christian Starks: 1 walk and 1 run scored

James Tilley: 1 walk & 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 K on 7 pitches

Evan Giddens: 3-3 with 3 singles, 1 HBP, 3 RBI, and 2 runs scored

Colby Brooks: 1 RBI, and 1 run scored

 

The Dragons, will be back home on Friday, April 21st as they will host the Tallulah Falls Indians at Dunn Field for Senior Night. It will be the final game of the 2023 regular season. The first pitch is set for 5:30 pm.

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