RICHMOND HILL WILDCATS
It was business as usual for Richmond Hill’s baseball team when it came to playing Bradwell Institute until it was no longer business as usual.
The Wildcats rolled over the Tigers, 10-0 and 15-5, in the first two games of their series but then came game three and Bradwell used a four run sixth inning to post a stunning 8-6 win Friday at Wildcats Field
It was an unlikely win for the Tigers who had lost 60 consecutive region games. In records dating back to 2008 Richmond Hill had gone 25-0 against Bradwell and had outscored the Tigers by an average of 11 runs per game.
With three-game series remaining with Statesboro and defending Region 2-6A champion South Effingham the loss to the Tigers put the Wildcats’ playoff chances in jeopardy. With the top four teams advancing Richmond Hill (14-7, 7-5) is currently in fourth by percentage points over Glynn Academy.
The Terrors (14-6, 5-4), however, have a one-game advantage in the loss column going into a series with region leader Effingham County (11-10, 8-1l) this week. The Rebels are trailed by South Effingham (17-4, 7-2) and Statesboro (13-7, 6-3).
Richmond Hill gets a break from region play this week as it plays at Savannah Christian on Monday and at Camden County on Tuesday before finishing the season against Statesboro and SEHS.
Hitting, or rather who isn’t hitting, is an issue for the Wildcats who obviously miss Evan Cowan’s bat. Cowan, who has signed to play at Georgia College, is the Wildcats’ leading hitter at .438 and has 15 RBI has missed the last seven games with an injury. Luke Boone also has 15 RBI.
“It’s something everyone deals with,” Coach Chris Jenkins said of Cowan’s injury. “He makes the lineup deeper and he’s a tremendous defensive player.”
Jenkins said Cowan could have played against Bradwell if needed but with non-region games this week it gives the senior centerfielder additional time to get ready for the stretch run.
With Cowan, who hits behind Finley and Boone out, opponents have been able to pitch around the pair.
Finley was 0-18 in his last seven games going into the SCPS contest and has seen his average drop to .246. Boone is hitting .313 with the Wildcats’ next best hitter among the starters being Hunter Legas at .245.
“We’ve gone through some stretches,” Jenkins said. “Going into the Effingham series we were averaging seven-eight runs per game. We’re having better at bats.”
Statistics bear out Jenkins. The only region team with more runs scored than the Wildcats’ 135 is South Effingham with 141. Richmond Hill has given up 77 runs second only to the Mustangs (55).
In the loss to Bradwell the Wildcats took a 4-3 lead into the sixth as both teams scored three runs in the fourth. Richmond Hill took a short-lived 4-3 lead in the fifth when Ozzie Ilar scored Tyler Fountain on a fielder’s choice with one out.
Bradwell loaded the bases with one out against Jalen Varnedoe who was pitching in relief of starter Ryan Wiebold who went the first four innings. Hampton Jackson singled in the tying run and after the go-ahead run scored on an error Jaylin Frasier had a two-run single.
Richmond Hill got two back in its half of the sixth but Tigers starting pitcher Felix Garcia singled in an the insurance run his team needed in the seventh. The Wildcats had six hits by six different players but were unable to take advantage of seven Bradwell errors.
In the first game of the series Finley (6-0) pitched a perfect four innings and had a 4-0 lead when he turned it over to Joe Gibson who allowed two hits. Richmond Hill reserves added five runs in the sixth to end it.
Finley and Boone each had three RBI to lead the 15-5 win as the Wildcats had nine hits and drew nine walks with Bradwell committing five errors.
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BRYAN COUNTY REDSKINS
Going into a two-game set with defending Class A Public state champion Metter coming off a pair of losses to Claxton is not what Bryan County needed.
The Redskins (12-5, 5-3) were running neck-and-neck with the Tigers in the Region 3A Public race until they ran into another group of Tigers last week. Claxton picked up a pair of 2-0 and 8-2 wins that sent Bryan County into a three-game losing streak.
Coach Justin Covington’s team played at Metter on Tuesday and will face the Tigers, who are led sophomore Vanderbilt commit Rustan Rigdon, at 6 p.m. Thursday at Hendrix Park.
Claxton (7-8, 5-3) was struggling but it used solid pitching and defense along with timely hitting to put itself in position to contend for one of the region’s four state tournament playoff spots.
Bryan County entered the Claxton series hitting a resounding .350 as a team and averaging eight runs per game. However, it could manage only five hits against Tigers hurlers Hayden Morris and Robbie Lane who struck out 18 batters, 10 by Morris, while walking four.
The Redskins have lost their last six meetings with Metter (13-5, 7-0). The Tigers have proved to be particularly troublesome for Bryan County having won 16 of 19 meetings in the last decade.
In the first game of the series with Claxton the Redskins missed a golden opportunity in the second inning when they loaded the bases but couldn’t get a run home. The only other threat came in the sixth when Sean Kelly Hill walked leading off and Aaron Bailey was hit by a pitch with one out. The next two batters went down on strikes to end the inning.
In the meantime, Konner Leggett was matching Morris pitch-for-pitch as he also allowed only three hits while striking out nine.
Unfortunately, two of them came in the fifth when the Tigers scored twice on two-out singles by Tanner Henry and Eli Sapp. It was the first loss of the season for Leggett (6-1).
Three days later Lane extended Bryan County’s scoreless innings streak to 12 straight before giving up two runs in the sixth when the Redskins scored on an error and Hill’s sacrifice fly.
While the Redskins were getting only two hits, singles by Tanner Ennis and Aaron Bailey, they gave up five unearned runs with Hughes taking the loss.
With the season at the mid-point of region play the Redskins, ECI, Jenkins County and Claxton are all 5-3. Following the Metter series Bryan County has region games remaining with McIntosh County Academy and Portal.