Darton splits doubleheader with South Georgia

ALBANY — The Darton State Cavaliers began a doubleheader with the South Georgia College Hawks on Saturday on a relatively hot streak as they had won seven of their last eight games.

South Georgia topped Darton 7-3 in extra innings in the first game, but the Cavaliers rebounded to pound the Hawks 21-0 in the second game.

The visiting Hawks took a 3-1 lead through five innings in Game 1, thanks to a rash of fielding errors and innings that just got away from Darton pitcher Rabon Martin. Martin pitched six a third innings, tallied three strikeouts, eight hits, and gave up two earned runs.

South Georgia pitcher Chip Devitt went four innings, surrendering only one hit and earned run despite five walks. Shortly after Devitt was pulled for freshman Shawn Blue, however, the Cavalier bats got hot.

In the bottom of the fifth, Cody Iglenfritz and Kendall Herron walked and advanced. Sophomore Mike Huggins plated both runners with a single to shallow right field to tie the game at three runs apiece in the bottom of the fifth.

The two squads couldn’t string together a rally in the next two frames, so the game would be decided in extras.

In the top of the eighth with the bases loaded and two outs, South Georgia freshman outfielder Stephan Cruver drove in two runs on an 0-2 pitch to give the Hawks a 5-3 lead. Cruver went 4 for 4 on the day with three RBIs.

On the next at-bat, Christian Harkey drove two more runs in with a single to deep center field. The 7-3 score would hold, the Cavs’ 15th loss of the season.

Mike Huggins was the Cavaliers’ most prolific hitter, going 2 for 4 with two RBIs.

The Cavalier’s bats didn’t need to warm up in the second outing. The home team batted through their entire order in the first two innings en route to a 21-0 drubbing.

“This team is resilient,” head coach Scot Hemmings said. “If you were to create a team based on class, character, sportsmanship and the ability to overcome a lot, this would be your absolute model team.”

John Cable started the assault with a sacrifice fly. Thirteen runs later, Cable returned to the plate where he blasted a grand slam into right center field to make the score 18-0.

“I chewed on them a bit after Thursday night’s loss,” Hemmings said. “We were kinda fumbling through the first game, but in two games, you see what this offense can do. The great thing about it is we haven’t hit our stride yet. We’ve got 16 games left and we still haven’t played our best baseball yet.”

The damage got so bad, the Hawks were on their third pitching change before the third inning even started. The Cavs, however, were led by Clemson signee Jeremy Beasley.

“Beasley and Martin were phenomenal,” Hemmings said of his standout pitchers. “Beasley was as good as I’d ever seen. A two-hitter, about six or seven strikeouts. He was pitching at 92, 93 miles per hour today. Just dominant.”

Beasley pitched five innings and allowed just two hits. Despite the strong showing, the ace was more excited about the offensive output.

“We didn’t have much confidence in the first game,” Beasley said. “And it kind of showed in how we played. I just came in and told the guys we’ve got to get going and we really got going. It’s good for us, and good for the offense.

“We’ve got a full head of steam now. We just need to get to Gordon College (on Tuesday) and keep this offensive explosion going.”

Cable led the way in the second game, going 2 for 4 with six RBIs. Colton Thomas went 4 for 5 with two doubles and a two-run home run over the raised center field wall.

The Cavaliers’ pitching staff combined to allow just two hits in the first six innings.