Baconton splits with Lanier County

BACONTON —Baconton Charter will battle Lanier County Saturday in the third and deciding game of the best-of-three state playoff series after the two split a pair of games on Friday.

The Blazers took the opening game with an 8-3 win, while the Bulldogs kept their season alive with a big 7-2 victory in Game 2.

The time for the deciding third game of the Georgia High School Association Class A public school contest is set for 3 p.m. Baconton coach Bubber Birdsong has not named a starting pitcher for the final game.

“We will have to see who has some arms left in them,” he said. “We used several guys and we may play some of them or some we didn’t throw already.”

Pitchers Taber Raley, Brantley Morgan, Will Bush and Stone Pinson all pitched during the two games.

The Blazers were tied 1-1 in the bottom of the fifth of the first game when the Blazers blew open the contest with five runs. Senior center fielder Turner Shiver walked to open the game and stole second. He moved to third on a fielder’s choice by Taber Raley. Christian Bostick followed with another fielder’s choice, but it scored Shiver and gave the Blazers a 2-1 lead. With two outs, Spencer Culp walked and Morgan singled to left to put runners at first and third.

The Blazers put on a running play to lure the pitcher toward Morgan between first and second as Culp raced toward home. Both made it safely with Culp scoring and Morgan remaining safe at first.

Brooks Pinson followed with another single before Hunter Cain singled to score Morgan, and then first baseman Grant Smithwick doubled to knock in two more runs. The rally ended with a pitching change, but the Blazers had taken control with a 6-1 lead.

When the Bulldogs started a rally, Birdsong took to the mound and made a pitching change. Morgan ended up closing the last couple of innings for the Blazers to earn a save in relief of Raley.

Smithwick led the bats for Blazers. The freshman first baseman knocked in four runs, two with his big double in the fifth and he also walked in two runs with the bases loaded. Bostick, Cain and Morgan also had RBIs.

The second game of the night was dominated by left-handed pitcher Matthew White of Lanier. White struck out 10 batters and allowed only five hits by the Blazers.

Baconton senior pitcher Bradley Morgan started Game 2 right after earning the save for the Blazers in the first game.

“Morgan pitched well to start with,” Birdsong said. “He just didn’t get enough support. And the game turned on that error. We were doing well, but once we made that mistake, it turned the whole game.”

The Blazers made four errors in the second game, including two in the first inning. But one of the biggest mistakes of the game was a base-running mistake at third base after Morgan led off the fourth inning with a double to the right field fence. His pitch runner was tagged out at third after the ball got away.

“I think we came out kind of flat in the second game,” Birdsong said. “We just didn’t get the support we need it.”

The Blazers were tied 1-1 into the fourth, but the Bulldogs hit four hits in a row to score three runs. They added another three runs in the fifth inning with four more hits, an error and a passed ball.