GIAA baseball: FPD looks to sweep Brookstone in finals, Gatewood goes for title in battle of ex-major league head coachesstate titles

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By Michael A. Lough

The Sports Report

centralgasports@gmail.com

          The last time FPD and Brookstone played for it all in Macon, it was a glorious night for the Vikings.

          That was last December, when FPD took down Brookstone 44-24 in the GIAA Class 4A state football championship at Mercer’s Five Star Stadium.

          Here we go again.

          This time, it’s baseball, and it’s at a much more experienced facility.

          The Vikings and Cougars battle for the 4A baseball title with a three-game series starting Thursday evening as the fourth game of the day at Luther Williams Field.

          Valwood and Terrell open at 10 a.m. in 3A, followed by Gatewood and Edmund Burke in AA, and then Robert Toombs and Flint River in A, hopeful first pitches at 10 a.m., 1 p.m., and 4 p.m. Second games are Friday at the same times, Saturday’s ‘if needed’ games to be set later.

          The Vikings and Cougars entered the postseason ranked 1-2 in GIAA 4A, led by the Vikings.

          Brookstone is going for its first GISA/GIAA state title, while FPD has sights set on matching trophies from 1991-92 and 2009-10. The Vikings beat Tattnall in a three-game series in 2010 and Stratford in a winner-take-all in 1992.

          A Macon private school hasn’t won a GISA/GIAA state title since Tattnall in 2012-13, after which Tattnall, Mount de Sales, and Stratford joined FPD in the GHSA.

          The Trojans won the final three titles before the move. This is the second year all four programs are back with the private school association.

          And FPD was doing pretty well in the GHSA, going to an Elite Eight since Moore took over.

          The Vikings are 87-38-1 under Moore, who gave up the football reigns going into the 2022 season but has remained as athletics director as well as head baseball coach.

          FPD has been building toward this series.

          “Difference between this year and last year: experience,” Moore said. “We only graduated two seniors from last year’s team, so this team has played a lot of games together and been through some pressure moments.”

          This year’s group is 4-0 in one-run games, and battled through a rough start against Tattnall in the semifinal. The Trojans rolled 7-2 in the opener at FPD, but the Vikings stormed back to take the second game 14-0, and then gutted out a 7-6 win in the deciding game.

          Against common opponents, FPD is 7-0 and Brookstone 8-2, losing to Glenwood and Heritage.

          The Cougars are 26-5, 4-0 against in-state non-GIAA foes, and the Vikings 24-6-1, and 5-2-1. FPD wins include over Tift County, Flowery Branch, and Mary Persons.

          Brookstone has an offensive advantage, outhitting FPD .351-.297 in average, with four players combining for 17 of its 19 homers, while Keon Johnson and Gavin Spillers have 15 of the Vikings’ 16 bombs.

          The Cougars have six players with at least 25 hits to five for the Vikings, but those six Brookstone players have at 31 or more hits, while FPD has three with that many.

          Taft Middleton leads Brookstone with a .512 average and eight homers, while Cole Stansell is next at .385 and Madden Dismuke at .374. That trio has also teamed for 18 doubles and seven triples.

          Brookstone batters have struck out 153 times, to 145 for FPD on five fewer at-bats.

          Middleton is also Brookstone’s go-to pitcher, with 63 innings and 110 strikeouts to 23 walks, and only two homers allowed. Davis Harris is 0-2, but has three saves and a 2.07 ERA.

          Johnson, one of Central Georgia’s hottest prospects in a few years, is hitting .404, while Cody Strandmark is next at .362, among the five Vikings at .300 or better.

          “(Johnson) leads us in almost every category,” Moore said. “His growth and development has been steady, and he is learning the little things that make him so special.”

          Spillers has eight homers and Johnson seven, and they’re 1-2 in RBIs with 37 and 31, led by Johnson

          FPD is 52 of 66 in stealing bases, while Brookstone has 50 steals.

          Conner Strandmark, who’s grown to be a 6-4, 190-pound sophomore, has worked 66.2 innings and Hayes Bryant 54.2 for the Vikings, who have four saves by four pitchers. Strandmark is 10-2 with 72 strikeouts and 26 walks, and Bryant 6-3 with 60 and 39.

          The staff has a 2.09 ERA and has allowed seven homers.

          “Conner is a sophomore, but already sports a career record of 17-4 as a starting pitcher,” Moore said. “He grew three inches since last year … and has solidified our staff.”

CLASS AA

Gatewood vs. Edmund Burke, 1 p.m.

          It’s No. 1 vs. No. 2 in the second game of the day, and both have recent titles on their resumes.

          Gatewood is the defending champ, taking down Southwest Georgia in three games last season after eliminating EB in the semifinals in three games.

          The Gators lost in three to Terrell in 2022 – again after knocking out the Spartans – and fell to Piedmont in the 2021 final.

          Edmund Burke won it in 2019 and 2011, the Spartans beating the Gators in a semifinal.

          The teams haven’t played each other this year, but Gatewood went 3-1 in last year’s meetings. Both teams are 4-2 against common opponents: Pinewood, Brentwood, and Piedmont.

          The Spartans are 18-5 (no stats reported to MaxPreps.

          Ames Johnson and Wilson Moore, both juniors, are over .400 for the Gators of head coach Brandon Moss, in his fourth season since making his coaching debut after playing in the majors for more than a decade, after a stellar career at Loganville.

          Five pitchers have at least two wins, Lawson Wooten leading with 26.1 innings pitched. The trio of three-game winners – Moore, Wooten, and Lawson Moore – have ERA of 1.12, 2.12, and 1.20.

          The game pits a pair of former Major League teammates leading their teams.

          Moss played in the majors from 2007-17, two years with St. Louis. Jonathan Broxton, who led EB to the title in 2019, was in the bigs from 2005-17.

          Both were with St. Louis in 2015 and 2016, Broxton going 7-5 in those two seasons and Moss playing in 179 games over the two seasons, drilling 28 homers in 2016.

          Each left the majors after the 2017 season, Moss having played with Pittsburgh, Oakland, St. Louis, Boston, Kansas City, Cleveland, and Philadelphia, and Broxton with the Dodgers, St. Louis, Cincinnati, Milwaukee, and Kansas City.