Going into Wednesday’s playoff game at ABAC in Tifton, the Georgia Highlands Chargers had a 5-2 record against the South Georgia State College Hawks. It looked like it was going to be 6-2 until two things happened.
Hayden Gmerek and the seventh inning.
The #2-seed Hawks defeated the #1-seed Chargers 9-5 in the Georgia Collegiate Athletic Association tournament. The win sent the Hawks to the championship game and dropped the Chargers into the loser’s bracket. Highlands would come back and defeat the Gordon State Highlanders to punch their own ticket to the title game but they’ve got to beat SGSC twice on Thursday to claim the championship.
Halfway through the game, the Hawks were in a little trouble. The Chargers scored three in the first then one in the second and one in the fourth to stake a 5-0 lead. An error in the first inning set the stage for the three-spot.
In the second, Highlands scored with two outs when Aidan Larkin doubled, scoring Kenton Collier, who had been hit by a pitch. Collier struck again in the fifth, hitting a 1-0 Gmerek offering out of the park to center for a solo home run.
After that, the Chargers had to be feeling confident. But so was Gmerek.
He began the season as the Hawks’ closer but injuries forced him to fill the role of starter. It has suited him well. Gmerek settled down and waited on his offense to go to work.
That’s exactly what they did in the sixth inning. SGSC started chipping away with two outs when Danny Vigille-grant singled in Tanner Langley to put the Hawks on the board. With Steven Tavares-Batista at the plate, Vigille-grant advanced to third on a wild pitch then scored on another wild pitch to get within three.
In the bottom of the fifth, the Chargers did get a runner on when Hayden Miller singled but he wouldn’t go any farther than first.
Then came the top of the seventh. The Hawks went to work quickly. Brice Marchman singled then scored when Trae Jones singled. A Highlands error allowed Marchman to score on the play. Payton Bryant sacrificed, moving to Diego Gonzales (who had walked) to second and Jones to third. Then Chargers’ pitcher Heath Whitlock picked off Gonzales at second for the inning’s second out. Gavin Hamrick singled, scoring Jones and making that pickoff look all the more ominous.
But the Hawks weren’t done yet. Down 5-4 with two outs, they kept hitting and they kept scoring. Langley reached on an error then Vigille-grant singled, scoring Hamrick and tying the game at five apiece. SGSC took the lead on a Jesse Brown single that scored Langley. Tavares-Batista walked to load the bases and bring Marchman back to the plate. He singled on a 1-0 pitch and scored Vigille-grant and Brown. The Hawks scored their final run of the inning – and the game – when Tavares-Batista scored on yet another wild pitch with Gonzales at the plate.
When the dust finally settled, the Hawks had scored seven runs – five with two outs – and taken what now looked like a very comfortable 9-5 lead.
Gmerek shut down the Chargers over the last three innings, retiring nine straight batters to win the contest and send the Hawks to the championship game.
Vigille-grant led the Hawks offensively with a 3-5, two-run, two-RBI performance. Marchman had two hits and two RBI. Gonzales also had a pair of hits. The only extra base hit that SGSC managed was Vigille-grant’s double.
Gmerek threw a 112-pitch complete game, surrendering five runs (four earned) on six hits. He struck out three and walked four.
The loss dropped the Chargers into the loser’s bracket where they faced Gordon State on Wednesday afternoon. Highlands defeated Gordon 12-2 in five innings. They too benefited from a solid outing from their starter, Matthew Perkins, who threw an 83-pitch complete game.
The two teams square off again Thursday in the GCAA title game. First pitch is scheduled for 12 noon at ABAC.
