Braden’s near-perfect effort lifts Calhoun past Rebels
Jackets starter pitches shutout, offense provides support in 9-0 win
It was Senior Night on Friday for Calhoun, and it was a senior that stepped up to have a dominant performance on the mound to help send the Jackets into the postseason with a victory and a lot of momentum.
Calhoun senior Jackson Braden was almost unhittable as he went 6 1-3 innings and gave up just two hits while striking out seven to earn the victory in the Jackets’ 9-0 win over Haralson County.
Braden, one of six seniors honored prior to the contest, carried a perfect game into the fifth before the Rebels managed back-to-back singles. Those two hits and a walk in the final inning were the only three times a Haralson County reached base as Braden was locked in from his first pitch to his last on Friday.
Calhoun coach Chip Henderson said he wasn’t surprised by what he saw from his senior hurler as he’s seen him do it numerous times this season and over the last few.
“It was a typical Jackson performance,” said Henderson. “He just put together another very strong outing, which is what I’ve come to expect from him. He threw strikes, got strikeouts and let the defense make plays behind him. That was a huge lift for us today and helps us end the regular season on a positive note as he head into the playoffs next week.”
The offense did their best to back up the strong outing by Braden with four runs in the first three innings before dealing the knockout blow with a five-run sixth.
The Jackets (17-11, 12-6) missed a couple of opportunities to take an even bigger lead early on as they managed a run each in the first two innings but left the bases loaded in both frames. But they made up for it by continuing to put the ball in play and come up with timely hits in third (two runs) and sixth (five) to build their insurmountable lead.
“We had the bases loaded in the first and second inning, and we need to cash in on those opportunities,” said Henderson. “We’ve got to challenge the kids to get more out of those chances. But it didn’t hurt us, and we were able to keep adding on late. It’s a lot easier to pitch with a nine-run lead than a four-run lead, that’s for sure. I think when we had the big inning in the sixth that was the difference, tacking on those runs. That’s always a good thing when you score nine runs.”
Braden was one of four Calhoun players with a multi-hit game offensively to help his own cause on the mound. He finished with two hits and two RBIs. Austin Trammell, Tanner Gallman and Brett Potts also had two hits apiece with Trammell scoring two runs and Gallman driving in one.
Bryson Davis, Ben King and Alex Hinojosa each added a hit and an RBI, and Matthew Williams had a hit and a run scored.
Braden, Trammell, Gallman, Davis, Hinojosa and Ryan Randall were all recognized prior to the game as part of Senior Night festivities. Henderson said the group has made a big impact on the program the last four years, and he hopes they aren’t quite done yet.
“This group has been a part of one region title, they’ve been to State all four years and they made a run to the Elite Eight last year,” said Henderson. “They are a good, solid group with a lot of playoff experience so hopefully they’ll go out, perform and lead this team on another run in the playoffs.”
The Jackets will now prepare for the Class AAA State Tournament where they will face Region 8-AAA No. 1 seed Morgan County in first round on Friday on the road. The teams will play a doubleheader starting at 5 p.m., and should they split those games, a decisive Game 3 will be played on Saturday.
Henderson said he is looking for his team to put it all together and peak at the right time now that it’s do-or-die from here on out.
“I think that we’ve played well and had some momentum at different times this season, but every time we would do that, it seemed like we would take a step back,” said Henderson. “We’re at the point now where it should be full throttle, all out going forward. I still don’t think we’ve played our best baseball, and I can’t think of a better time to do it than now. We need to get everything clicking at the same time, and if we do that, I think we’re a really good team.”