Worth County trips Thomas County Central in 10 innings

SYLVESTER — Hunter Goodwin wasn’t sure if the game would end.

10 innings.

Very little offense.

And a pitcher’s duel.

But with a runner on third-base and in the bottom of the 10th, Goodwin listened to Worth County baseball coach Will Smith, waited on the perfect pitch and ripped a single into center field, scoring Reece Bozeman as the Rams took a thrilling 1-0 victory over the Region 1-AAAA-leading Yellow Jackets Monday night at Pope Park.

“I was just thinking to stay back and hit it up the middle or to the opposite field,” said Goodwin, a freshman who finished 1 for 3 with the game-winning RBI.

“It didn’t feel like it was going to end, but I knew it had to sooner or later.”

Goodwin capped a thrilling comeback that has Worth County on a three-game winning streak and in the thick of the region race.

His heroics overshadowed an excellent pitching duel between Worth left-hander Jake Jones and Thomas County Central’s Eli Taylor. Both went six innings and got saddled with no-decisions.

Jones allowed just two hits, while Taylor yielded three.

The starting pitchers had performances that San Francisco Giants’ World Series MVP Madison Bumgarner would have been proud of.

“What can you say about the pitching?,” Smith said. “Our pitcher threw a heckuva game and so did theirs. They both battled.”

Jones allowed runners to get in scoring position three times. But each time, he figured out a way to escape any damage.

In the seventh inning after Jones walked the leadoff batter, Smith brought in Denzell Gowdy, who worked four scoreless innings in relief to earn the victory. Jones and Gowdy combined on a three-hit shutout.

Gowdy’s only trouble came when the Jackets loaded the bases in the 10th without a hit. However, the senior escaped when Cody Reddell cut down the runner at the plate for the second out, then Gowdy recorded a strikeout to get out of the inning.

Worth (8-3, 4-3 Region 1-AAAA) chased Taylor in the sixth, loading the bases when Tyler Moore reached on an error, Goodwin walked and Aaron Franks executed a perfect bunt single.

However, Taylor retired the next two batters to end the threat.

The Rams finished with just four hits with Gowdy, Tripp Goff and Franks notching the three hits before Goodwin’s game-winner.

With Gowdy working four strong innings and the Rams facing Monroe on Wednesday, Smith said he was unsure who would start on the mound.

“We’ve got some decisions to make,” Smith said. “We still may come back with Denzell, but we also have Austin Jackson and Cody Reddell.”