The Coffee Trojans finished the non-region schedule with a pair of wins near the Georgia coast this weekend, winning games against Savannah Christian (2-0) and Richmond Hill (5-3). The Trojans are now 7-2 on the season with a three-game series against Lee County looming this week.
Friday night in Savannah, runs were hard to come by for both teams. Coffee starter Gavin McElroy and the Trojan defense kept Savannah Christian off the board; McElroy threw a 98-pitch complete game three-hitter, striking out 13 and walking just two.
In the top of the second, the red-hot Eli Wood led off with a double then scored on a Hunter Klesko single to left. Wood, who had singled earlier in the inning, scored the Trojans’ second and final run of the game in the sixth on a Jimmy Timothy sacrifice fly.
Wood, Klesko, and Taeven Harden each had two hits. Timothy and Klesko had Coffee’s two RBI.
Saturday against Richmond Hill, the Trojans jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the second then broke a 1-1 tie with three in the fifth. They added an insurance run in the seventh to take a 5-1 lead. Richmond Hill answered with two in the seventh but their comeback ended there.
Reid Harden scored Klesko on a sacrifice fly in the second to go up 1-0. In the fifth, Coffee scored all of its runs with two outs. McElroy singled, scoring Timothy for a 2-1 advantage. Wood followed with a double to right, which drove in Ben Fussell and McElroy. The Trojans scored another two-out run in the seventh when McElroy scored on another single by Wood.
McElroy, Wood, Timothy, and Taeven Harden each had two hits. Wood drove in three. McElroy scored twice.
Fussell picked up the win in a 107-pitch, 6 1/3 inning outing. He surrendered three runs (one earned), struck out six, and walked six. Wood grabbed the save when he recorded the final two outs of the game. He struck out one and didn’t walk anybody.
The Trojans travel to Leesburg for the first region game of the year against a tough Lee County team. Friday, Lee will come to Charles Wilson Field for a double-header beginning at 4:30 p.m. Coffee will recognize the Douglas-Coffee County Parks and Recreation Department Miracle League players Friday before game one.
