The Coffee Trojans finished their two-day, four-game stint at the Lakepoint facility in Kennesaw with a 1-1 day on Wednesday. During the trip, the Trojans saw one of the fastest high school fastballs ever recorded and starter Michael Strickland added a no-hitter to an already-impressive 2025 resume.
Wednesday afternoon, Coffee defeated the Homewood-Flossmoor Vikings 10-0 in six innings in game one. Then they had a rematch with the Lincoln-Way West Warriors; the Warriors came away with a 10-9 extra-innings win.
Against the Vikings, starter Michael Strickland threw a 64-pitch no-hitter. He struck out six and walked one. Strickland also went 3-4 with an RBI in the game.
The Trojans jumped out to a 4-0 lead after four innings. Then they put up five in the fifth and one in the sixth to end the game via run rule. Carter McMillan homered. Brax Carson and Ben Fussell each tripled. Gavin McElroy added a double as well.
In game two, the Warriors took a 4-0 lead after one inning. Coffee scored four of their own in the second to tie the game. Then the Warriors scored one to go up 5-4. They added three more in the third to pull ahead 8-4. The Trojans, however, weren’t done. They scored four in the seventh to tie the game at eight and force extra innings.
After neither team could score in the eighth or ninth, Strickland led off the tenth with a home run to left on an 0-2 pitch to give the Trojans a 9-8 lead. In the bottom of the frame, the first two Warriors reached via hit by pitch. Then Carson Paulas singled to score a run and tie the game. Alex Macias then hit a ground ball to Taven Harden at short. He went home to Eli Vickers but the play at the plate went to the Warriors. They slipped away with a 10-9 win.
Strickland and Harden had two hits. Carson homered, drove in three, and scored twice. McElroy also scored a pair of runs.
Four Coffee pitchers saw action against the Warriors. Fussell started and went two innings. Will Walker and Jose Espinosa also threw two innings. McMillan, the fourth pitcher of the day, went three innings.
The Trojans are 13-11 on the season and finish the region schedule next week against Veterans. Game one is Tuesday night at Charles Wilson Field in Douglas at 6 p.m. Games two and three are Friday in Warner Robins.