No. 1-ranked Trojans get two road wins over North Oconee, Benedictine.
Last week was the first full week of the season for the Gordon Lee Trojans, but it was hard to tell just by watching them.
The Navy-and-White, ranked as the preseason No. 1 team in the Class A public school division by Score Atlanta, scored three big wins over higher classification teams, one at home and two on the road.
Gordon Lee 12, Sonoraville 2
The Trojans opened the week by pounding out 10 hits in a five-inning, runrule victory over Class AAA Sonoraville in Chickamauga last Tuesday.
Senior Ethan Clark overcame a shaky first inning, including giving up a solo homer on the first pitch of the season, to throw just 68 pitches in five innings of work with 50 going for strikes. He allowed just two hits after the four-hit first frame and did not walk a single hitter.
Kobie Cowan, Dylan Minghini and Noah Peterson each had two hits. Minghini drove in three runs, while Cowan and Peterson had two RBIs apiece. Chaney Rogers added a double and scored three times, while also gunning down a runner at the plate with a great throw home from centerfield.
Drew McDaniel had an RBI-triple and Mason Pettigrew scored twice in the win as the Trojans blew the game open with a five-run fourth inning. They ended the game an inning later as they scored four more times. Cole Tarvin delivered the walk-off RBI-single.
Gordon Lee third
baseman McCain Barbee helped out on defense with a sparkling defensive play as he climbed the ladder to snare a line drive.
Gordon Lee 8, Benedictine 5
Facing the Cadets from Savannah at North Oconee High School in Athens on Saturday for the first time since they knocked the thendefending champs out of the Class AA playoffs in 2015, Gordon Lee led 6-0 after five innings against the preseason No. 1-ranked team in Class AA.
Benedictine would finally get on the board with two runs in the bottom of the sixth, only to see the Trojans answer with two more in the top of the seventh. The Cadets would score three in their final atbat before Gordon Lee finally slammed the door on the comeback.
Clark started and struck out two in three innings, while Rogers fanned three in two innings of work.
Peterson paced the offense with two hits, including a triple, and two RBIs. Cowan collected two hits and scored a run. Rogers had an RBI-double and Clark drove in two runs with a single.
Gordon Lee 9, North Oconee 3
In Saturday afternoon’s second game, the Trojans
jumped out to a 5-0 lead after the first halfinning. North Oconee would score three in the second to tighten things up, but Gordon Lee would tack on solo runs in the fifth and sixth before two final tallies in the seventh.
Austin Thompson struck out five in six innings of work to get the win. Freshman Jake Wright pitched the seventh and recorded his first two high school strikeouts.
Rogers swung the big stick with two doubles and an RBI as part of a 3-for-4 performance. Cowan had two hits and scored twice, while Minghini picked up two more RBIs, giving him five on the season.
“It was a fun trip (to Athens) getting to see (Gordon Lee alum) Tucker (Bradley) play (at Georgia) and then we got two big wins, especially as it relates to the (Class A) power ranking system,” head coach Mike Dunfee said. “We came down here wanting to see where we were and we left with a big confidence booster.
“We still saw things we can work, but there was a lot more good than bad out there today.”
Gordon Lee (3-0) will put its unblemished record on the line on Tuesday as the Heritage Generals come to Chickamauga for a 5:30 p.m. game. The Trojans will play two games at Coahulla Creek this Saturday, one against Dalton and the other against either Coahulla Creek or Northwest Whitfield.