MORGAN COUNTY
MCHS eighth-year head coach Merritt Ainslie told the Lake Oconee News last week that he likes scheduling tough competition for his squad, especially because it will only help them in the long run.
“We’re kind of a young team, so it’s good to face teams such as Woodstock, Flowery Branch, Social Circle and Cherokee Bluff,” he said. “It gives our young guys good experience and it’s like a playoff game. I also think playing good teams at the start of the year prepares us for region play.”
Cherokee Bluff (12-0) used a comeback effort as it trailed by three runs heading into the top of the third inning. The Bears’ offense then started to slowly chip away at Morgan County’s 3-0 lead.
CBHS plated two runs in the third inning, and Garrett Harper singled to score Ethan England. A few batters later, Ty Corbin’s single off Bulldogs’ pitcher Ty Tillery brought in Jacob Vokal to make it a 3-2 game.
Morgan County went quietly in the bottom of the third as the Bears would tie it up at 3-3 in the fourth. Tillery gave up another run as Cherokee Bluff’s Landon Kemp picked up an RBI on a single.
The Bears took the lead and scored the game’s final runs in the fifth as Caleb Miele had the go-ahead double. He then came around to score during the next at-bat on a single from Bryce England.
Cherokee Bluff’s pitching staff retired nine straight Bulldog hitters from the third through the fifth innings. The Bears also only allowed four MCHS batters to get on base after the fifth, but none scored.
The Bulldogs looked solid early as they jumped out to a 3-0 lead. Brendan Conway’s double in the first inning scored Tripp Lancaster to put MCHS on top 1-0 before David Denton got an RBI single.
Leading 2-0, Tillery dealt from the mound and got Cherokee Bluff to go down 1-2-3. The Bulldogs added another run in the second as Drew Stephens scored on a ground ball hit by Conway.
Cherokee Bluff’s bats finally woke up and adjusted to Tillery’s fastball. The freshman pitched 4.0 innings, giving up five hits and three earned runs. Tillery struck out two and didn’t walk a batter.
Draco Frazzitta was credited with the loss after giving up two runs in 0.2 innings. Jackson Miller also appeared on the mound for Morgan County and didn’t give up any runs as he pitched 2.2 frames.
The Bulldogs’ offense was stagnant, despite jumping out to a three-run lead. They only secured three hits, with two of them coming from Conway. MCHS had a combined nine strikeouts in the loss.
Ainslie highlighted before the season that Conway is going to be a key piece in the Bulldogs’ offense.
“Brendan is a great hitter and has been for us for the past few years,” Ainslie said. “Hopefully, we’ll have nine consistent bats, although I think we’ll have 12 that we can choose from. We’re going to pick the best nine, though, but it’s great to have so many options heading into the season.”
Against the Academy of Richmond County in its Region 4-AAA opener, Morgan County coasted.
The Bulldogs scored 10 runs through the first two innings and ended up run-ruling ARC in five innings. The Musketeers couldn’t get anything going offensively as Conway was dominant on the bump.
Conway and Dallas Dickerson combined to give up eight runs, but only let three runs cross the plate, with one being earned. They also struck out eight ARC batters and only walked two in the win.
Morgan County was back in action on Wednesday at Cherokee Bluff past press time. The Bulldogs will face ARC again on Friday at Tracy Brown Field and the first pitch is set for 5:30 p.m.