Crisp County ends Worth County’s slim postseason hopes

SYLVESTER — Chris Reddell grimaced at the umpire, Denzell Gowdy slapped his glove in frustration and coach Will Smith threw his hands in the air at one point.

The window was a small one and the way Worth County High School played Wednesday night against Crisp County, one would have never known the Rams had a very small chance at making the state baseball playoffs.

But a 9-1 setback to rival Crisp County ended those thoughts at Pope Park.

Reddell got no help from a shaky defense that committed six errors behind him and dug the Rams into an early four-run deficit. Meanwhile, the offense was stymied by Crisp starter Witt Campbell.

And when the game went final, Worth County’s slim postseason hopes were dashed.

Worth needed to beat Crisp, then Westover, Americus-Sumter and Bainbridge over the next fours days, then needed Thomas County Central to lose at least one of its games to Dougherty to earn the fourth and final seed.

It was a mountain, but there was hope — until Worth had just one more hit than it did errors in Wednesday night’s make-up game.

“We played one of the best teams in the state … we all knew it,” Smith said. “But when you make six errors, you’re going to lose just about 100 percent of the time.”

The loss to the first-place Cougars means that Thomas County Central is in the postseason, while Worth will be left to ponder a season that slipped away.

“This one is pretty tough,” Gowdy said. “We were not in it, not focused and we started the first inning off badly.”

Crisp County, meanwhile, used a gem from Campbell, who was fueled by an 11-hit attack. Chris Pollock finished 2 for 4 with a double and an RBI, while Campbell, Bradley Hough and Austin Walls collected two hits apiece.

With the exception of the third and sixth innings, the Cougars scored at least a run in every inning.

Worth, meanwhile, was led by Reece Bozeman and Jake Jones, who each went 2 for 3. Jonathan Cirullo, Tyler Moore and Shelby Cox had the Rams’ other hits.

To make matters worse, Crisp County shut down Gowdy, who came into the game batting better than .600.

“Sometimes, when your backs are against the wall, you try to do too much,” Smith said. “You just need to make a play and get out. But when you try to do too much, you end up making mistakes. That’s what happened to us tonight.”