Defending Class A Division II champion Charlton County ended Lake Oconee Academy’s historic season on the diamond last Friday by sweeping the semifinal series and advancing to the state final.
The hard-hitting Indians’ squad took game one easily with a 12-1 mercy-rule victory as their offense blasted two home runs. They then took the series in game two by narrowly defeating the Titans 7-5.
The Lake Oconee Academy baseball team had hoped for a different ending. While the loss was a bitter pill to swallow, it didn’t diminish the Titans’ success this season under head coach Mark Miller.
The Titans won a program record 26 games and only lost seven, with a few firsts in making it to the semifinal round of the playoffs and capturing a region championship. There’s a lot to be proud of.
“All in all, the series didn’t turn out the way we had wanted, but looking back, I am super proud of the guys for making it to the Elite Eight and the Final Four for the first time,” Miller reflected. “Just the way the season progressed, I was happy to see how we grew up as a team. We were young this year.”
After getting outscored by 11 runs and outhit 9-1 in the first contest, Lake Oconee Academy bounced back in game two. The Titans battled in the series finale but came up just short at the end.
LOA took a 1-0 lead in the top half of the first inning in game two as a single by Will Moore scored Hayden Brown. Charlton bounced back and tied the game at 1-1 in the bottom half of the first.
After a scoreless inning by both teams in the second, the Indians plated two runs off a bomb to left field by slugger Eli Hobbs to take a 3-1 lead in the third. Hobbs homered in the first contest as well.
LOA responded in the fourth by putting its first two runners on base. Ike O’Neal walked and advanced to third base on a single by Ian Watson, the Class A Division II Region 8 Player of the Year.
O’Neal scored on an error to make it a one-run contest before Watson tied it at 3-3 on a sacrifice fly to left field from Moore, who went 1-for-2 at the plate and had a team-high two RBIs in the game.
Charlton didn’t go down easy, though. The Indians retook the lead in the bottom of the fourth inning. Senior Cole Crawford whacked a sacrifice fly to deep center, which brought around Haze Johnson.
Lake Oconee Academy’s determination showed in the top of the fifth. The Titans took a 5-4 lead as Ethan Burton scored on an error, and Brown crossed the plate as O’Neal popped out to left field.
Regardless, Lake Oconee Academy, which made three errors in game one, made more mistakes in the bottom half of the fifth, allowing Charlton to regain control of the contest. Freshman pitcher Dylan Hiter hit the first batter and walked the next to start the frame, giving the Indians a pair of free passes.
Unfortunately, LOA never reclaimed the lead, as Charlton pitcher Cole Crawford retired six of nine batters to end the game. He pitched a complete game, giving up eight hits and five runs, three of which were earned. But Crawford only surrendered one walk and struck out five in the win.
Miller emphasized that Charlton’s experience and his team’s mental mistakes led to the sweep.
“They’ve been there and done that for the past couple of years, so they’re used to playing on that level,” Miller said. “I think we bobbled a couple of balls early on and made a few mistakes. You can’t do that against good teams in the Final Four, but we didn’t give up and left it all out on the field.”