With the Class A Div. II semifinals set for baseball, No. 1 ranked Lanier County is the only team in the Final Four that has previously won a state title and the Bulldogs achieved this feat last year with the program’s first-ever championship. Last year’s historic run concluded with a 3-2 victory over Charlton County in the third game of the series after the Bulldogs suffered a 5-1 defeat to start the series. Lanier County took Game 2 8-7 before clinching the crown with another one-run victory in Game 3. This year, Charlton County was defeated in the semifinals by Emanuel County Institute 7-4 and 8-1. The matchup was the classification’s pre-playoff No. 3 ranked team (Charlton County) and the No. 5 ranked team (ECI). On that same side of the bracket, No. 2 ranked Baconton Charter was defeated by No. 7 ranked Wilcox County in two games (3-0, 2-1). This result was significant because Baconton Charter had a perfect GHSA record heading into the series and was riding a 22-game win-streak after its sweep over No. 4 ranked Irwin County in the second round.
In Wilcox County’s 3-0 Game 1 win over Baconton Charter, senior Johnny Nutt earned the win on the mound and served the Blazers their first shutout of the season and also limited them to a no-hitter. Wilcox County out-hit Baconton Charter 8-0 in the victory and he went seven complete innings with a whopping 19 strikeouts and just one walk. Wilcox County played three seniors, four juniors two sophomores and had freshman Eli McKinney—who crossed the plate in the victory—in the game to pinch run and this is a young team peaking at the right time. Sophomore Talon McKinney went 2-for-3 at the plate with one RBI and sophomore Deacon Harper was 1-for-3 with a run scored. Junior Deacon McDuffie also scored a run.
Riding the momentum of Butt’s no-hitter in Game 1, Wilcox County took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning of Game 2 and never trailed. The Patriots added an insurance run in the top of the fourth to grow the lead to 2-0 and held on after Baconton Charter cut the deficit to 2-1 in the bottom of the seventh. Deacon Harper finished with 6 and a third innings pitched before Nutt came in to close the game with the final two outs. Nutt walked a batter, gave up a hit and then struck out two for the final outs. Harper gave up just one earned run and seven hits. Offensively, senior Tre Griffin had a strong showing in Game 2 with 2-for-3 batting at the plate and an RBI and junior Jackson Smith finished 1-of-2 at the plate with an RBI. Just like Game 1, the freshman Eli McKinney came in to pinch run and provided the Patriots with the lead. \
AROUND THE CLASSIFICATION BOYS: Atkinson County will travel to Metter Friday night with a championship berth on the line as the two teams square off in the semifinals. Across the bracket, Lake Oconee Academy will travel to Trion.
AROUND THE CLASSIFICATION GIRLS: Atlanta Classical advanced to the soccer state championship on Thursday with a 3-2 victory over Irwin County. On the other side of the bracket, Lake Oconee Academy will travel to Trion on Friday for their semifinal match and the winner will head to Mercer next week on May 15 to take on Atlanta Classical in the championship.
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