By Michael A. Lough

The Sports Report

centralgasports@gmail.com

          Two triples in the first four innings – including to start the game - is usually a good thing.

          For Pope, the rare feat was one of the few bright spots in the GHSA Class 6A state championship opener, and proved to be foreshadowing that it wasn’t going to be the Greyhounds’ day.

Game 1 Box score
Pope
Cooper Orr 2 for 3
Jack Myers, 2 RBI
Houston County
Drew Burress 2 for 3, 2 doubles, 2 runs, 2 RBI
Kai Decker 2 for 3, 3 RBI
Christian Wahiwe, 2 runs
Game 2 Box score
Houston County
Drew Burress 2 for 4, 1 run, 1 RBI
Andrew Dunford  4 for 4, 2 RBI
Hunter Chiappetta 2 for 4, 1 run
Pope
Tanner Morneau 2 for 3, 2 runs

Photo gallery

Houston County has eyes on the state baseball championship prize

          Houston County put together walks and some quality at-bats for a big third inning en route to an 8-3 win in the opener, and then survived some late-game sparks in the nightcap for a 7-4 win and the Bears’ second state title in three seasons.

          Houston County finished the title season 36-6 while defending champion Pope ended at 31-11.

          In both games, it appeared Houston County might pull away, but as is expected in a championship from a defending champion, Pope didn’t quite let that happen.

          The Bears led 7-0 after four innings in the opener, only for the Greyhounds to put three across in the top of the sixth. Starting pitcher Ryker Chavis didn’t let Pope do anything else.

          And they led 4-1 after four in the nightcap, going on to trade runs in the fifth and sixth with the Greyhounds, who stranded two runners in the fifth and three in the sixth, Andrew Dunford and Drew Burress, slowing Pope’s flow.

          Burress ended up stopping the flow completely, and a metro Atlanta field hosted a Houston County dogpile for the second time in three seasons.

          It was the seventh time this season that Pope had been held to seven runs or less in consecutive games. They Greyhounds were outhit 20-12, but left 12 runners on base to nine for the Bears. 

Game 1

          Chavis battled through a few fairly mild hiccups – like that leadoff triple – to turn in a complete-game opener win on the mound, giving up seven hits, striking out six with two walks.

          He escaped some fog in the first and second innings – two on, one out in both – and then wasted the fourth-inning two-out triple.

          A three-bagger in the sixth, though, brought in two runs with no outs, Pope adding another run on a grounder to third. The Bears squelched optimism with a run in the bottom half, a two-out Burress double bringing in Eli Stephens.

          Patience, small ball, and bat control led the way in the huge third.

          Elijah Smith singled and Ethan Buffone walked, both advancing on an errant pickoff throw.

          Stephens followed an out with a walk to load the bases. A walk to Burress brought in the game’s first run.

          Then big Dunford – 6-7, 230 pounds big - showed nice bat skills when he slapped an 0-2 pitch just past second baseman Jack Myers – the ball glanced off the tip of his glove – into right for two runs.

          Kai Decker matched it, the lefty driving a pitch into the left-center gap for a two-run double, and a 5-0 lead.

          Two more walks ended the day of Pope starter Dawson Jones. Reliever Andrew Nelms came on and stopped the bleeding with two strikeouts.

          Pope, which stranded a two-out triple in the top of the fourth, thought it escaped trouble after a hit batter preceded a double play. Good thing, the Greyhounds thought, when Burress followed with an opposite-field double.

          An irrelevant double play, it was.

          Decker followed a walk to Dunford with an opposite-field single just off the glove of shortstop Carson Kerce. Burress easily beat the throw home, and catcher Jesse Walter threw high to second to try to get Decker, and Dunford scored easily, for a 7-0 lead.

          It was more than enough, Chavis working through the Greyhounds’ three-run sixth. 

Game 2

          Houston County broke up a pitchers game with two in the third.

          Stephens singled and Burress doubled him in. Dunford singled, but courtesy runner Hudson Sherman was picked off, and Pope pitcher Blythe Keisler finished the inning.

          The Bears added two in the fourth on a Hunter Chiappetta single and Chavis walk, sacrifice from Smith, RBI single from pinch-hitter Ty Waters and a fielder’s choice grounder by Vick Gann.

          But the Bears left two on after a pair of foul outs.

          The drama soon appeared, the Bears up 7-2 entering the bottom of the sixth.

          A single, wild pitch, and single brought in a run, and starting pitcher Dunford was done after hitting Cooper Orr.

On came stopper Burress, in from center for his seventh appearance of the season.

          Suddenly, though, the bases were loaded and the Bears looked shaky.

          Looked. But weren’t.

          Naturally, Burress closed the door after an outfield error brought in a run and a hit batter loaded the bases, by getting John Stuetzer to fly out to left and  strand three runners.

          Burress went into rare extra duty, throwing a second inning. No tired arm issues. He needed only 12 pitches to finish off the defending 6A champs and inspire the pileup between the mound and first, the game ending on a routine grounder to second baseman Chiappetta.

          Dunford improved to 7-3, Burress throwing his seventh and eighth innings of the season, and increasing his strikeout total by a third with three.

⚾ ⚾ ⚾GIAA⚾ ⚾ ⚾

          The weather wasn’t as helpful for the GIAA championships in North Augusta, S.C.

          The Class A game was to start at 10 a.m., followed by AA with Gatewood and SW Georgia at 1 and AAA with John Milledge and Pinewood Christian at 4 p.m.

          The GIAA posted on Twitter that the first game had been pushed back to 11, and on Facebook more than an hour later that it had been pushed back to 11:35. Then it noted that game two would start at 2 p.m.

          John Milledge then posted on Facebook at 2:44 that its game had been postponed until 1 p.m. on Friday. The GIAA posted a link to its TV page with the update a little later.

          Gatewood and Southwest Georgia follow at 4 p.m.