Warriors respond with victory at Sonoraville
CALHOUN, Ga. — So far this season, every time Johnny Burch has needed his Lakeview-Fort Oglethorpe baseball team to rally from something negative, it has answered.
A blowout loss to Ringgold was answered by a win over Calhoun. Likewise, a Thursday loss to Haralson County was followed by Friday’s 8-4 Region 6-AAA win at Sonoraville. The game itself was a microcosm of the Warriors’ resilience.
Ahead early 4-0, LFO saw its lead dwindle to a run when the Phoenix scored three times in the fifth inning. No worries. The Warriors (11-4, 4-2) responded with five runs in the sixth inning, three scoring on senior Andrew Brock’s home run, to seal the win and complete a mostly satisfying week.
“They were ready to play today, but I am still hanging on the loss yesterday a bit,” Burch said. “We always want to at least win the week, so today was big. It’s always tough to play here, and they got on us that one inning there. These guys have fought all year, and every time we get down in a game or give up a few runs — with the exception of the Ringgold game — we’ve responded.”
LFO starting pitcher Riley Mosier (4-1) was the beneficiary of the outburst. The sophomore limited Sonoraville to six hits and stranded seven runners in scoring position in the complete-game performance. His lone poor inning included four of Sonoraville’s hits, including RBI singles from Storm Carnes and Avery Hopper, in making it a 4-3 game entering the sixth.
“Mosier kind of lost his timing a bit and suddenly it’s 4-3 and they had life, but for us to then open it back up was great,” Burch said. “That big inning got momentum right back. Brock has been big for us all year.”
Jackson Herrod started the big sixth inning with a triple, marking the end of the game for Phoenix starting pitcher Gage Soulios. Matthew Trusley followed with an RBI single, and Jacob Flanagan added a run-scoring single four batters later. Brock then provided insurance with his three-run homer to left.
“We just want to keep fighting, and our goal is to host a (state) playoff series,” Brock said. “When they got back in it, and we knew they were going to make a run at some point, we came right back. To get that homer made it all the more special.”
Brock and Trusley each had three of LFO’s 12 hits, while Herrod added two. Carnes had two hits for Sonoraville.