MORGAN COUNTY
Morgan County baseball continued its domination of region teams last week with two more victories.
The Bulldogs swept Hephzibah and improved to 6-0 in Region 4-AAA competition. However, in between those two games, Morgan County lost a close decision to non-league opponent Social Circle.
The Bulldogs are off this week due to spring break but are 9-9 overall heading into next week’s games.
Morgan County hosted Hephzibah on March 4 at Tracy Brown Field and run-ruled the Rebels 10-0.
Bulldog senior Brendan Conway pitched a perfect game, although it was shortened due to the mercy rule.
After two scoreless innings from both teams, Morgan County broke the game wide open in the bottom of the third. The Bulldogs plated three runs on singles by Conway and freshman Drew Ainslie.
Conway then put away three straight Hephzibah hitters on strikes in the top of the fourth. In the bottom half of the frame, Morgan County plated seven more runs to take a 10-0 lead over the Rebels.
Ainslie, Zach Moore, Talan Fuller, Robert Pearson and Ethan Mizell all had RBI hits in the inning. The Bulldogs then held Hephzibah scoreless in the top of the fifth the secure the region win.
In game two, Ainslie’s bat shined again as Morgan County dominated the Rebels, 15-0.
The freshman first baseman went 3-for-4 at the plate, with two runs scored and a team-high three RBIs.
The Bulldogs led 2-0 after the first as Tripp Lancaster and Ainslie had a pair of RBI hits. They then added seven runs in the second as Jack Harper and Drew Stephens had two big-time triples to take a 9-0 lead.
Jackson Miller got the win on the mound for Morgan County, going two full innings with five strikeouts and giving up zero hits. He was replaced by Harper in the third as he pitched the rest of the contest, with a game-high eight strikeouts and zero walks. Hephzibah’s only hit came off Harper.
The Bulldog offense was on fire as it had 13 hits in 23 plate appearances against the Rebels in game two. Ainslie, Stephens, Moore and junior David Denton all had multi-hit games in Friday’s win.
In the middle of the week, Social Circle squeaked out a 2-0 victory over Morgan County to sweep the series. The Redskins defeated the Bulldogs 8-3 in Madison earlier this season on Feb. 27.
The game’s only runs came in the bottom of the first as Social Circle plated two off Ty Tillery. The freshman responded by pitching five scoreless innings and didn’t give up any more runs.
Tillery finished the game throwing six innings, giving up two runs on five hits with eight strikeouts. The University of Georgia baseball commit also only walked a trio of batters in the loss.
However, Morgan County’s bats went cold with only two hits. The Bulldogs also struck out 10 times. Social Circle pitcher Jayden Smith hurled a gem, only giving up a pair of hits and one walk.
Morgan County returns to action next week. The Bulldogs will face region foe Cross Creek for a road doubleheader on Tuesday and will travel to play non-region opponent West Laurens on Thursday.
The season will conclude the following week with a three-game series against Class AAA’s top-ranked Harlem (19-0), which is tied with Morgan County for first place in the region standings.