Gordon Lee powers its way to Elite Eight
The Gordon Lee Trojans began defense of their Class 1A Public School state championship on Thursday and if that day’s doubleheader was any indication, the Navyand-white appeared to have picked up right where they left off in the playoffs a year ago.
Dominant pitching, combined with a solid all-around evening at the plate, lifted the Trojans into the state quarterfinals with a 11-1, 5-1 sweep of visiting Jenkins County.
“We had that little lay off ( before the playoffs started), so our offensive timing was off just a little bit to start with,” head coach Mike Dunfee said. “But we did get some good at-bats tonight, especially in that second game, and we hope that will carry over.”
The No. 18-seeded War Eagles, who outlasted No. 15-seeded GMC in the opening round, made the nearly 300-mile drive from Millen to Chickamauga and were greeted by Trojan starters Jake Wright and Jake Poindexter.
Wright pitched the first five innings of the opener, giving up just one earned run on four hits. He struck out six batters, walked just two, and helped himself with a two-run homer in the second inning.
Gordon Lee (26-4) put up four runs in the fourth inning, two coming on a tworun double by Hunter Hodson, who also led off the sixth inning with a solo homerun. Two more runs would cross the plate to end the game. Cody Thomas had an RBIsingle, while Cade Peterson had a walk-off Rbi-single to end it.
Justin Wooden and Chris Potter joined Peterson and Hodson with two hits each. Logan Streetman pitched a scoreless, hitless inning for the Trojans in the sixth.
A pitcher’s duel would ensue in the nightcap as Poindexter battled Jenkins County’s Hagan Jenkins all seven innings. Jenkins gave up just two earned runs on seven hits and two walks and finished with 10 strikeouts, but Poindexter was even better. The sophomore gave up just one earned run on four hits. He walked two batters and punched out a total of 15 War Eagles.
Gordon Lee took a 2-0 lead in the top of the second inning on Rbi-singles