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March 15, 2017
Phone: 770-867-6397
Fax:706-621-4115
sthompson@barrownewsjoumal.com
Section B
★★★★
High School Baseball: Winder-Barrow
Battled-tested Bulldoggs set to open region play today
By Scott Thompson
Sports Editor
Winder-Barrow has run
through quite the gauntlet of a
non-region schedule to this point
in the season and came out near
ly unscathed.
Now the battle-tested Bull
doggs are set to begin GHSA
Region 8-AAAAAA play today
when they host Dacula at 5:55
p.m. They'll then visit the Fal
cons on Friday and then again on
March 27.
A three-game set with perenni
al power and region foe Gaines
ville is also on the docket for
next week.
“Dacula will be a good chal
lenge for us,” Winder-Barrow
coach Brian Smith said. “They’ve
got a couple of (NCAA Div.
I) pitching recruits so that will
be tough. We’ve always played
them in non-region games previ
ously and it’s always been a fun
rivalry.”
Winder-Barrow (9-1) is com
ing off a 3-1 weekend at the Per
fect Game High School Show
down in Emerson.
Denham Springs 5,
Winder-Barrow 4
The Bulldoggs dropped their
opener on Thursday, 5-4 to Den
ham Springs, La. Dillon Boyle
singled off Lance Sykes in the
top of the seventh inning to break
a 4-4 tie and give the Yellow
Jackets the victory.
Sam Darling led the Bulldoggs
at the plate with three hits and a
pair of runs batted in while Will
Hardigree also had a pair of hits.
Daniel Buice started the game
on the mound for Winder-Bar
row, giving up just one run in 4
1/3 innings pitched.
Winder-Barrow 12,
Lewisburg 2
Later Thursday evening, the
Bulldoggs redeemed themselves
with a 12-2 shellacking in five
innings of Lewisburg High
School of Olive Branch, Miss.
Hardigree got the scoring
going early with an RBI double
in the top of the first and Wind
er-Barrow busted the game wide
open in the second, scoring seven
times to go up 8-0.
Skylor Murphy and Trent
Maddox had RBI singles, Beau
Hanna drew a bases-loaded walk
to bring in another run, and then
Hardigree and Zack Smith hit
back-to-back two-run doubles.
Hanna added a two-run double
in the third while Smith brought
in another run with a single.
Murphy went the distance on
the mound, giving up just three
hits in the victory.
Winder-Barrow 2,
Houston County 1
In a matchup against a fellow
GHSA Class AAAAAA team
Friday, the Bulldoggs won 2-1
when Pat DeMarco walked with
the bases loaded in the bottom
of the seventh to score Darrell
Woodall.
DeMarco led off the fourth
with a solo homer to put the
Bulldoggs up 1-0 before the
Bears knotted the game in the
fifth.
Hardigree gave up just one
run in five innings of work while
striking out 11 batters. Woodall
worked the final two innings in
relief to pick up the win.
Winder-Barrow 6,
Cartersville 5
In their final game of the tour
nament Saturday, the Bulldoggs
jumped out ahead early and then
held off a late rally by the Hur
ricanes.
Smith hit a two-run double in
the top of the first to bring in
Maddox and Hanna. Hanna then
had a two-run double of his own
in the second that scored Murphy
and DeMarco before Smith made
it 5-1 on an RBI single.
Austin Lockridge, Sikes, Jack-
son Melton and Smith logged
innings on the mound for Wind
er-Barrow.
“I thought we played good
baseball the entire weekend
against some really good teams,”
Brian Smith said. “It was a very
balanced weekend. We had very
consistent pitching and defense.
We turned eight double plays and
we scored a bunch of runs.
“All but two of our pitchers
got work in on the mound so it
was good for the younger ones to
gain that experience.”
High School Baseball: Bethlehem Christian Academy
High School Baseball: AHS
Region blowout
CHASING HIM BACK
Bethlehem Christian Academy first baseman Patrick Wallace takes a pick-off throw from pitcher Tristen
Green during Tuesday’s GISA Region 1 -AAA matchup against Holy Spirit Prep. The Knights won 10-0 in
six innings to improve to 2-6 on the year and 1-0 in region play. Photos by Scott Thompson
Knights rout Holy Spirit Prep 10-0 in GISA 1-AAA opener
Wildcats have positive
experience at Cool Ray
By Scott Thompson
Sports Editor
Pitching has been a
steady presence for Beth
lehem Christian Academy
in the early part of the
season, but the Knights got
off to a tough start with an
offense slow to come out
of the gate.
Tuesday it all came
together as the Knights
routed Holy Spirit Prep at
home, 10-0. in their GISA
Region 1-AAA opener.
The win moved the
Knights to 2-6 overall and
1-0 in the region.
“It’s always good to
start the region schedule
out with a win.” BCA
coach Matt Nicks said.
“We pitched well. The bats
were a little slow to start
out, but then we started to
heat up there toward the
end of the game. Once we
get those bats warmed up,
we can get it rolling from
there.”
BCA jumped out ahead
early, scoring a pair of
runs in the bottom of the
first inning when Patrick
Wallace doubled in Austin
Bennett and Tanner Still
scored on an error.
The Knights wouldn’t
score again until the fourth
when they put up three
runs to break it open. Josh
Farr led off with a sin
gle and then back-to-back
doubles by Chase Rose-
land and Andrew Klein
extended the lead to 4-0.
Still padded the lead fur
ther later in the inning with
a sacrifice fly.
The Knights scored four
more times in the fifth on
the strength of a pair of
run-scoring doubles by
Tristen Green and Klein.
They won the game via
mercy rule in the sixth
when Michael Tusca-
no drew a one-out walk,
advanced to second on a
wild pitch and eventually
came around to score on an
RBI single by Green.
Green was also domi
nant on the mound, con
tinuing a strong start to his
season. He didn’t allow a
By Scott Thompson
Sports Editor
The Apalachee High
School baseball team
snapped a six-game
losing streak Tuesday
with a 6-2 win at Cen
tral Gwinnett, but the
momentum may have
come from what Wild
cats coach Allan Bailey
called an encouraging
performance Saturday at
Cool Ray Field.
Playing on the home
field of the Gwinnett
Braves minor league
team, the Wildcats fell
2-1 to Class A Prince
Avenue Christian after
the Wolverines plated
the winning run in the
bottom of the seventh
inning.
“I was a little wor
ried over how we would
react because it’s such
an impressive stadium,
but our guys gave it their
very best effort,” Bailey
said. “It was probably
one of the best games
we’ve played all season.
We only had a handful
of strikeouts and we hit
the baseball all over the
field. It was just right at
them most of the time.”
Apalachee (2-8) was
tasked with facing
6-foot-5 Prince Avenue
sophomore pitcher Cain
Tatum, who has already
committed to Georgia,
and managed just four
hits off him.
The Wildcats took
a 1-0 lead in the top
of the sixth on Chase
Chancey’s RBI single,
but the Wolverines tied
the game in the bottom
of the frame on a two-
out RBI hit.
Apalachee threatened
to score in the sev
enth, getting runners
on second and third,
but couldn’t push them
across.
The Wolverines won
the game when a man
reached base with two
outs and scored on a
blooper over short. Gun-
nar Wright had a triple
in the losing effort while
Hunter Linhart and Nate
Hodnett added doubles.
Dustin Sexton threw
five shutout innings on
See AHS on Page 6B
See BCA on Page 3B
Regional Lab
Outreach
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County
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THE RUNDOWN
Now conveniently located at:
340 Exchange Blvd.
Bethlehem GA 30620
Monday-Friday 8 a.m. -1 p.m.
706.475.6881 or 1.866.475.6881
Bethlehem Christian Academy third baseman Austin Bennett runs down a
Holy Spirit Prep baserunner between third and second on a fielder’s choice
play after pitcher Tristen Green (7) caught the runner in between the bases
on a sharp groundout.
[11 Piedmont
9 ATHENS REGIONAL
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