Last week’s three-game region series against the Ware County Gators was a mixed bag for the Coffee Trojans. They came away with a dominating 16-6 win in game three but dropped the first two games of the series. The Trojans are 16-5 overall (5-4 in region) and sitting in third place behind Greenbrier and Ware.
Last Tuesday, the Trojans stumbled in game one, losing 1-0 at Ware. Coffee managed just three hits. Junior Michael Strickland scattered six hits over six innings. He gave up one unearned run and struck out nine. He pitched well enough to win but the Trojan offense couldn’t give him any run support.
Friday night, the two teams squared off at Charles Wilson Field in Douglas for a double-header. Emotions were high and both teams understood what was at stake. Game one was full of highs and lows for Ware and Coffee. The Trojans jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the first when Strickland, who had been hit by a pitch, scored on a misplayed ground ball off the bat of Payton Bryant.
The Gators answered with a five-run second inning to take a 5-1 lead. They added a run in the third to go up 6-1. Then the Coffee bats woke up. Bryant hit his sixth home run of the year, a three-run shot with two outs, to narrow Ware’s advantage to 6-4. In the fourth, Coffee got within one when Cannon Jones was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded, scoring Zae Smith.
The Trojans took the lead with a two-run fifth. Ben Roberts singled to score Connor Stewart, who had led off the inning with a double. Roberts scored on a passed ball with Smith at the plate to take a 7-6 lead.
Neither team scored in the sixth. Then Ware broke the game open in the seventh, scoring six runs to go up 12-7. The Gators used six hits, a walk, and a hit by pitch to take a commanding lead. The Trojans did make an attempt at a comeback in the bottom of the frame; Smith hit a two-run home run to get within three of Ware but that’s all Coffee could muster. Ware slipped away with a 12-9 win.
Game two of the double-header (and game three of the series) was a different story. Ware continued its scoring barrage, plating five in the first. However, the Trojans answered with two in the first, two in the second, four in the third, four in the fourth, and two each in the fifth and sixth to beat the Gators 16-6 in six innings. Carter McMillan had two hits, three RBI, and scored three runs. He also homered. Stewart drove in four and Roberts drove in three as well.
Ben Fussell started and threw five innings, giving up six runs (none of which were earned) on four hits and striking out six. Gavin McElroy threw a scoreless inning of relief.
The Coffee County School System may be on Spring Break this week but the Trojans don’t have any time off. They have a three-game region series against Bradwell Institute beginning today on the road at 6 p.m. Friday, the two teams play a double-header in Douglas beginning at 4 p.m.
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