The last time the CCA Patriots and the First Preparatory Christian Highlanders met on the field of play, a state basketball championship was on the line. The Highlanders weathered the Patriot storm and won the game – and the championship – on the Columbus State University campus a few weeks ago.
But now it’s baseball season and things are different. CCA showed that Wednesday afternoon in Douglas when the Patriots defeated the Highlanders 15-0 in four innings. Junior Blake Bryant threw a 37-pitch, four-inning no-hitter to put an exclamation point on CCA’s first win of the season.
The Patriots scored in every inning – six n the first and three each in the second, third, and fourth. Thomas Gentry and Jonathan Rutland had three hits for CCA. Tyson Crosby scored three times while Gray McLean, Gentry, Rutland, and Landon Williams all scored twice. Rutland also drove in three.
Bryant threw 29 strikes out of 37 pitches and struck out six with no walks.
The Patriots are 1-1-1 on the season and have rematch with the Highlanders Thursday afternoon in Hinesville.