Walker County Messenger

Excitable Boys: Gordon Lee wins second straight 6-A title

- By Scott Herpst

If the Region 6-A championsh­ip series is any indication, then fans of the Gordon Lee Trojans are going to be in for one heck of a May.

The Trojans and the Tigers of King’s Ridge Christian put on a show last week with a dramatic three-game set for the region crown. Noah Peterson’s walkoff grand slam in the bottom of the eighth inning gave the Trojans a 9-6 victory in the opener on Wednesday before the Tigers staved off a comeback attempt by the Trojans, 9-6, in Game 2.

Game 3 on Thursday would see the Tigers rally from two big deficits before Gordon Lee would finally be able to lock up the title with a 10-9 victory.

“I knew we’d be in for a war,” Gordon Lee head coach Mike Dunfee said. “Our guys were tired (after Wednesday’s doublehead­er), but we still found a way to get it done. Winning a region title is a great honor, especially this region, which is arguably one of the toughest in the state.

“Our kids really deserved this. We’ve been battling injuries and things all year long, but we say we’re 19 deep for a reason. This is one of the grittiest teams I’ve ever coached. They are all heart and guts and they’ll fight you from the first pitch to the last one. It’s just fun to watch them and fun to coach a bunch of guys that really get behind each other.”

Gordon Lee 9, King’s Ridge 6

The Tigers led 2-0 early, but fell behind 4-2 before rallying for four straight runs to take a 6-5 lead into the bottom of the seventh. However, an error and a single opened the door for Dylan Minghini to bring in a tying run on a sacrifice fly.

In the top of the eighth, King’s Ridge took advantage of the sixth of the game by the Trojans to put runners at the corners with one out before Austin Campbell brought in the go-ahead run with a sacrifice fly of his own.

Then in the home half of the eighth, the Trojans had a runner on first, but the Tigers were just one out away from picking up the win. But the second error of the game on King’s Ridge would keep the inning alive and when Ethan Clark drew a walk to load the bases for Peterson, who strode to the plate looking for redemption after a couple of defensive mishaps at shortstop earlier in the game.

And it didn’t take long for Peterson to find it as he crushed a pitch over the fence in left for the four-run bomb that sealed the Gordon Lee win and sent the entire team - coaches included - into a state of delirium.

“Before (Noah) got up to bat, I told him that I didn’t care what

happened,” Dunfee said. “I told him that I loved him and I just wanted him to get a base hit. But I told him that either way, we had another game to play. They left the ball where he could handle it and man, did he hit it hard. That’s exciting for him. He had a little adversity, but he kept fighting until the end and came up big when we needed it.”

Peterson and Minghini each finished with two hits and four RBIs, while Austin Thompson went 2-for-4 and got the win in the relief.

King’s Ridge 9, Gordon Lee 6

The Trojans took a 5-2 lead after two innings of the nightcap, thanks to a four-run second inning. The Tigers, however, would get two of the runs back in the third and put up three in the fifth and two more in the sixth to go up 9-5.

The Trojans got a run in the bottom of the

sixth as a balk scored Kobie Cowan from third and the home team would make things very interestin­g in the bottom of the seventh.

A Caleb Hopkins single, a Drew McDaniel double and a two-out walk by Cowan would bring the go-ahead run to the plate in the person of Clark. The senior sent a shot screaming toward the gap in deep rightcente­rfield, but the ball held up long enough for centerfiel­der Dwight Allen II to track it down and finally shut the door on the comeback attempt.

Minghini had two more hits and three more RBIs in Game 2, while Clark was 2-for-5 with two runs scored. Cole Tarvin took the loss in relief.

Gordon Lee 10, King’s Ridge 9

Thursday night in Alpharetta, the first 10 batters reached base for the Trojans, who built a 7-0 lead and extended it to 9-1 on a two-run triple by Hopkins in the fourth.

However, King’s Ridge (18-8) would show their championsh­ip

mettle by scoring six runs in the bottom of the fourth on five hits, a pair of walks and a hit batsman. Another solo run in the fifth would cut the Trojans’ lead to 9-8.

An RBI-double in the sixth by Minghini would push the lead back to two and the Trojans would take the 10-8 advantage into the bottom of the seventh.

Things would start getting dicey for Gordon Lee as Hayden Milling hit a one-out double and later scored on the fourth error of the game by the Trojans. Tanner Wakefield was then hit by a pitch to put the tying run on base and bring the winning run to the plate.

Hunter Hodson entered the game, looking to close it out on the mound and induced a ground ball off the bat of John Byrnes as Gordon Lee got a force out at second on the fielder’s choice. One final ground ball out would end the game one batter later.

Thompson started the game for Gordon Lee and went 3 2/3 innings to the get the victory, allowing six

earned runs on seven hits with two walks and four strikeouts. Hodson, the fourth pitcher used by Gordon Lee, recorded the save.

Cowan was 3-for5 with an RBI, while Minghini went 3-for-4 with two doubles and drove in two more runs to give him nine for the three-game series. Hopkins had two hits and three RBIs. Peterson was 2-for-4 with two runs driven in, Drew McDaniel added a two-run single and Hodson had a 2-for-4 day.

As of Monday morning, Gordon Lee sat in the No. 2 spot in the Class A Public School power rankings, less than a half-point behind Schley County and nearly two full points ahead of Lanier County.

The top two teams in the power rankings, following release of the final numbers and any appeals, will have homefield advantage through the state semifinals. The state championsh­ip series will be played at a neutral site this season, either Rome or Savannah.

By winning the region championsh­ip, Gordon Lee (22-5) will automatica­lly be placed at the top part of the bracket. The top eight seeds in the Public School brackets will receive first-round byes in the state tournament, meaning Gordon Lee’s playoff opener will not be until May 4.

However, Dunfee said the break is coming at a good time for his team.

“This gives us a chance to rest some guys and get them healthy for the playoffs,” he added. “We’ll probably have 8-10 practices with a couple of days off as we wait to see who we’ll play.

“The big thing though is getting to stay at home and having everyone make that long drive up here to play us. We get to sleep in our own beds too, so having homefield is a big advantage for a lot of reasons.”

Gordon Lee 9, Rockmart 6

Two days before the region title series, the Trojans picked up an extra-inning victory over the Jackets in

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