When the Coffee Trojans baseball team played the Greenbrier Wolfpack earlier in the season, they didn’t exactly follow the same example the football set back in the fall. They did, however, keep the winning tradition alive against the Chamblee Bulldogs Tuesday afternoon in Chamblee. The Trojans defeated the Bulldogs in a double header 15-0 (four innings) and 9-2 in the first round of the state playoffs, setting up a second-round series against McIntosh High School next week in Peachtree City.
The Trojans scored in each of the four innings of game one: one in the first, four in the second, six in the third, and four in the fourth. Ben Fussell and Payton Bryant led the way offensively for Coffee. Both were 2-2 with four RBI. Cannon Jones and Zae Smith scored twice and Brax Carson scored three times.
Fussell also earned the win with a three-inning outing. He gave up three hits and one walk while striking out two. Weston Brown finished things off for the Trojans with an inning of relief.
In game two, Coffee picked up where they left off. The Trojans scored in each of the first three innings, giving them seven straight innings in which they scored at least one run. They didn’t score in the fourth, added one in the fifth, then didn’t send anyone across the plate in the sixth.
Michael Strickland had a big game in the nightcap. He started and picked up the win in a five-inning, 105-pitch appearance. He gave up four hits, one earned run, and four walks to go with eight strikeouts. Strickland was also 1-3 with a solo home run in the fifth inning.
Connor Stewart and Ben Roberts each had a pair of hits while Braden Musgrove and Brax Carson scored twice.
Coffee’s second-round opponent, McIntosh, is 21-8 on the season. They swept the Jones County Greyhounds 5-0 and 8-5 on Tuesday. Next week’s series starts with a double header Monday beginning at 4 p.m.