The Coffee Trojans went 3-0 this week in their respite from region competition. The first two wins, 10-4 over Crisp and 13-1 over Perry, didn’t give the Trojans any real cause for concern.
The third win, however, was a different story.
Friday night, Coffee defeated Perry 12-11 at home in a game that came down to the final inning. Tied 11-11 in the bottom of the seventh, Ben Fussell led off the inning with a double. A wild pitch on ball three with Michael Strickland at the plate moved Fussell to third. Then Strickland hit a fly ball to center that Perry’s Brady Bearden caught for the first out. Fussell, however, tagged from third and scored the winning run to give the Trojans a 12-11 victory.
Cannon Jones had three hits and scored twice. Fussell had two hits, two RBI, and two runs scored. Ben Roberts drove in three and Carter McMillan hit a solo home run to lead off the second inning.
Fussell (3 2/3 innings), Gavin McElroy (1 1/3 innings), and Payton Bryant (two innings) shared the pitching duties against Perry. Bryant earned the win for Coffee.
The Trojans have locked up the third seed for the playoffs. However, there is still one more region series to play. Coffee and Jenkins square off in a double-header at Jenkins Tuesday then play a single game in Douglas on Thursday night. First pitch is scheduled for 5 p.m.