Thomasville’s outstanding run to the finals is highlighted by its 2-1, 7-5 sweep over No. 1 ranked Pace Academy in the semifinals, and now the Bulldogs are one series win away from capturing their first state title since 1999. Thomasville’s only other state title came in 1956 and it will be another opportunity to end a long championship drought. Against Pace Academy, pitchers Jacob Jordan and Ben Rawlings did the bulk of the work to outduel the Knights in Game 1. The contest was tied 1-1 until Witt Wetherington’s solo homer in the top of the sixth provided the winning run. In Game 2, Gabe Duncan held on for a complete game win and also had a two-run homer. Vidalia cruised past the first three rounds of the playoffs with a whopping 74-5 runs advantage, but needed a thrilling 5-4 victory in Game 3 of the semifinals to defeat Lovett and return to the finals for the first time since 2003. Walker Moncus hit a two-run homer in the bottom of the sixth inning to put the Indians up 5-4 and then reliever Kevin Cox clinched the victory in the top of a scoreless seventh. Lovett previously ended Vidalia’s season in the 2021 quarterfinals, so this win was a massive hurdle for the program. Lovett opened up the series with a 4-1 victory in Game 1 that ended Vidalia’s 22-game win-streak, but the Indians answered and rallied back from an early deficit in Game 2 with 10 hits to score a 5-3 victory. Ty Dalley, Caleb Bennett and Bryce Davis each had two hits and so did Cox—who also added a two-run homer.
WE MEET AGAIN
Class A Public’s battle between defending state champion Metter and Charlton County will be a rematch of last year’s semifinals. Metter took that series 7-5, 9-1 and then went on to defeat Gordon Lee in three games for its first-ever state title. Charlton County has previously won state titles in 2013 and 2014 and will look to avoid falling short to the Tigers for the second-straight year. Metter carries a 19-game winning streak into the finals and has swept its playoff competition with an 85-12 scoring advantage. In the semifinals, Commerce jumped out to an early lead before Metter erupted with 10 unanswered runs to win 11-4. Vanderbilt-commit Rustan Rigdon finished Game 1 batting 3-for-4 with four RBI’s. John Luke Glanton, Reese Hadden and Brooks Longgrear each had two hits and Reco Coney had a three-run homer. In Game 2, Rigdon pitched a five-hit shutout with 13 strikeouts in the team’s 5-0 victory. Charlton County swept Telfair County 15-0, 13-1 in the first round before holding off a tremendous Washington-Wilkes team in a thrilling three-game series. The Indians fell 2-1 in the opener and then clinched the series with an 11-5 win and 9-7 victory in Game 3. The team went on to dispatch Region 5 champion Schley County 3-1, 13-1 in the quarterfinals and then swept past Social Circle 4-0, 16-6 in the semifinals. Indians’ 6-foot-3 junior pitcher Gant Geiger threw a complete-game shutout in Game 1 and then the Indians ran away with a 16-6 victory in Game 2. Charlton County has outscored its opponents 85-23 through the first four rounds.
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