Despite Monday’s non-region loss to Jefferson, Morgan County baseball sits at 7-2 overall and is playing well.
The Class 5A Dragons rallied to a 7-5 victory over Class 3A’s No. 4 Diamond Dogs at Horace J. Jackson Field.
“We’re getting better and better with each game, but we’ve got to get off to better starts,” Morgan County head coach Steve Westmoreland told the Lake Oconee News. “I think we are starting to put it all together, though.”
Morgan County got off to a fast start against Jefferson, but the result didn’t end in its favor on Monday night.
The Diamond Dogs led 5-0 heading into the bottom of the fourth inning when the Dragons scored six earned runs off reliever Davis Strickland. They never recovered as Jefferson ruined their five-game win streak.
Strickland started strong by striking out the first two batters but quickly ran into trouble. The sophomore pitcher never got the third out as he gave up three hits and walked two before Ben Atkinson finished the inning.
Jefferson’s Austin Stegner silenced Morgan County’s bats for the rest of the game. The Dragons added one run in the fifth and led 7-5 heading into the top of the seventh. The Dogs threatened as Hudson Reed and David Denton had back-to-back singles, but a double play and groundout ended the game with the Dragons on top.
Morgan County’s bats were humming in the first four innings. The Dogs didn’t have trouble putting runners in scoring position, either. Their offensive momentum stopped after Stegner entered the game in relief.
A Ty Tillery groundout in the first scored Tripp Lancaster, putting Morgan County in the driver’s seat with a 1-0 lead. Zach Moore stole third and advanced home on an error, putting the Dogs up 2-0 in the second frame.
Morgan County led 3-0 heading into the fourth when a single by Reed brought around Strickland and Lancaster. The Dogs held a commanding 5-0 lead before errors and the Dragons’ bats got them back into the game.
Morgan County’s Skylar McCoy got the start on the mound, throwing three scoreless innings with three walks and three strikeouts. McCoy had control of the game but Jefferson took advantage of Strickland in the fourth.
Pitching has been a reason why Westmoreland’s squad has been successful so far this year. The Dogs’ pitching staff hasn’t made many mistakes on the bump and doesn’t give up many free bases to opposing batters.
“All of our guys are throwing extremely well,” Westmoreland said. “I was looking at some numbers the other day, we’ve had two games with no walks, we’ve had two games with one walk, and two games with two walks. We don’t give up many free bases, which makes it easy for us. It doesn’t put a lot of pressure on our defense. It hasn’t been one or two guys. It’s been seven or eight guys who are throwing the ball well for us.”
McCoy, a junior left-hander, has carried his weight this season with more than a few solid outings. His performance against Jefferson was no different as he limited his mistakes and kept the Dragons scoreless on Monday.
“Skylar’s had four to five solid outings for us. He was really good last week in relief against Lanier,” Westmoreland added. “He’s been extremely (effective), but we have had others that have done great as well.”
Westmoreland pointed out that Reed and Draco Frazzitta have also looked great on the mound. Both sophomore arms pitched in Monday night’s loss, proving to be effective when their team needed them the most. Tillery, Strickland, and Caylem Richardson are the other pitchers that the Dogs will also rely on this year.
Morgan County faced Jefferson again on Wednesday before going up Augusta Christan this weekend on the road.
The Dogs have also played a tough non-region schedule, with key wins over Eastside, Northgate, Newton, Walnut Grove, Lanier, and Swainsboro. Their only two losses have come to LaGrange and Jefferson this year.
Westmoreland wanted to test his players early in the year with tough competition, hoping it would benefit them.
“We try to create as much competition as possible,” Westmoreland said. “We’re trying to put our guys in front of as many quality arms as possible. We want to challenge them with competition before region play starts.”