CCA starter Blake Bryant put an exclamation point on the final home start of his high school baseball career Wednesday afternoon, throwing his second consecutive no-hitter and striking out 13 out of 17 batters in game one of the Patriots’ doubleheader sweep over the Thomas Jefferson Christian Academy Jaguars in the semifinals of the state playoffs.
CCA won game one 10-0 in five innings behind another dominating Bryant performance. Thomas Gentry took the mound in game two and was equally overpowering, throwing a one-hit shutout of his own — striking out 17 while walking just one. The Patriots took game two 7-0 and now advance to the finals, at which they will defend their 2025 state championship.
Things got off to a slow start for the Patriots in game one. They scored a run in the first when Bryant singled to left, scoring Gentry. In the third, Gentry led off with a triple then scored when Skyler Woods hit a sacrifice fly to right. CCA went up 3-0 on a Jonah Hall double that drove in Jackson Knight.
A 3-0 lead was plenty comfortable with the way Bryant was pitching. But the Patriots weren’t through. An inning later, they scored seven to take a 10-0 lead and dash any hopes the Jaguars had of staying in the game. The first run of the inning crossed the plate when Gentry singled in Luke Russ. After Woods walked, Bryant singled in Gray McLean and Gentry, putting CCA up 6-0. A balk with Knight at the plate scored Tyson Crosby, who was running for Woods. The Patriots went ahead 8-0 on a Mason Spivey single that scored Connor Reckley. The final two runs of the game came in when Landon Williams doubled, scoring Spivey and Hall.
The Jaguars did get a runner on base in the top of the fifth thanks to a Patriot error. But the runner didn’t get beyond first. The 10-run mercy rule went into effect and CCA took game one 10-0.
Gentry was 3-3 with three runs and an RBI. Bryant had two hits and three RBI. Hall and Williams also had two hits. Williams drove in two as well. Hall and Williams doubled while Gentry tripled.
Bryant threw 75 pitches and recorded 13 of 15 outs via strikeout.
In game two, it was Gentry’s turn. He threw a complete game one-hit shutout of his own, throwing 110 pitches in the process. His outing lasted seven innings – there was no mercy rule this time around – and he struck out 17.
The Patriots jumped out a 4-0 lead in the first inning, primarily due to walks. The first four batters walked, resulting in a 1-0 CCA lead. Then Knight flew out to left, which allowed Crosby to tag and score from third. Phillips and Spivey followed with walks of their own, scoring Reckley in the process. Hall kept the merry go-round going with yet another walk, scoring Bryant and giving the Patriots a 4-0 lead.
The score didn’t change until the fifth inning. That’s when Phillips connected on an 0-1 offering and launched a solo home run to right for a 5-0 lead.
In the sixth, Gentry drove in Williams with a single. Woods flew out to left but McLean tagged from third and scored for a 7-0 advantage. Neither team scored the rest of the game and CCA advanced to the state finals.
In addition to what he did on the mound, Gentry was 2-3 with an RBI. McLean scored twice and doubled. Phillips’s homer was the first he has hit this season.
The Patriots will play the winner of the David Emanuel-Vidalia Heritage series next weekend at Georgia Southern’s baseball stadium. CCA and Vidalia Heritage are region opponents have played three times this season, with the Patriots winning all three games. CCA and David Emanuel have not played each other this season. David Emanuel and Vidalia Heritage play their doubleheader Friday afternoon with game three, if necessary, being played on Saturday.
