It was going to be hard for Coffee pitcher Michael Strickland to top last Friday night’s performance. He was nursing an injury to his throwing hand and was seemingly out of commission. Then, in game one of the scheduled double-header, Coffee and Lee found themselves in a dogfight. In the fifth inning, head coach Scott Grove called on Strickland to face a few batters and see if he could get a couple of guys out at a pivotal point in the game.
Strickland ended up going 6 1/3 innings, giving up five hits, two runs (both earned), striking out 10, and walking one. Coffee went on to win 10-9 in 11 innings and Strickland, the third of four pitchers used in that game, earned the win.
It was a gutsy performance – the kind of outing that can galvanize a team when they need it most. It was hard to imagine lightning striking twice, especially just a week apart.
Then Friday, March 14 rolled around and the Thomas County Central Yellow Jackets came to town to finish off a three-game region series. After losing the season series to Lee 2-1 and dropping the first game to the Yellow Jackets on Tuesday in Thomasville, the Trojans needed a win as badly as they’ve ever needed one.
Coach Grove gave Strickland the ball.
With a large home crowd on hand for the first weekend region series of the season – and with his former head coach Sy Jones in the opposing dugout – Strickland stepped up once again. He locked in early and mowed down a lethal TCC offense, throwing a 98-pitch complete game shutout in which he struck out 14 Yellow Jackets without walking a single one.
The moment was never too big, the pressure never too great. He prevented the Yellow Jackets from making contact and kept them off the basepaths. The four hits Strickland surrendered all came at the top of the order – the leadoff through cleanup spots all went 1-3. The #5-#9 hitters were a combined 0-11. He faced 23 hitters – just two above the minimum in a seven-inning game.
While Strickland was dealing on the mound, the Coffee offense, which hasn’t been the most potent this season, went to work. The Trojans scored two in the first, one in the third, three in the fourth, and one in the sixth to steadily and consistently put distance between themselves and their opponents. Jimmy Timothy was 2-3 with three runs scored and an RBI (both of his hits were doubles). Connor Stewart was 2-3 with four RBI and a run scored. Stewart also doubled – he and Timothy accounted for the only extra base hits Coffee had in the game.
The nightcap followed a little different script but the outcome was the same. The Yellow Jackets jumped out to a 2-0 lead on a first-inning home run. With two outs, Landon Walsh singled to short then Reid Gainous launched the first pitch he saw over the left field wall for a two-run home run.
After that, starter Ben Fussell settled in and didn’t allow another Yellow Jacket to cross the plate. He didn’t put up the big strikeout numbers like Strickland did in the previous game but he was equally efficient. Fussell also went the distance, needing only 88 pitches to retire the 27 batters he faced. He gave up two runs (both earned), struck out five, and walked two.
Fussell also helped his cause on the mound with a few offensive fireworks of his own. He was 2-4 with a solo home run to center to lead off the sixth inning. Coffee was holding on to a slim 3-2 lead at the time and Fussell’s home run, his second of the season, was a late-inning insurance run that gave the Trojans a little bit of a cushion heading into the final inning.
Fussell retired the Yellow Jackets in order in the top of the seventh for a 4-2 win and a Friday night sweep. Fussell, Timothy, and Gavin McElroy all had two hits. McElroy also drove in two.
The wins put the Trojans at an even 2-2 in region play and 6-8 overall for the season. Tuesday, Coffee travels up I-75 to face the Northside (Warner Robins) Eagles for a 6 p.m. game. Next Friday, the Trojans will host the Eagles in a double-header in Douglas. Game one starts at 4:30 p.m.