Lee County cuts down Valdosta to stay unbeaten

LEESBURG — Andrew Wingate struck out the game’s final batter, then trotted to the dugout and was greeted to a handful of high-fives.

The Lee County High School baseball team cut down a Valdosta High comeback to post a 3-2 victory Tuesday to stay undefeated at 10-0 on the season. The Trojans and Lakeside-Dekalb are the last two unbeaten teams in Class AAAAAA.

With Colquitt County’s 1-0 victory over Tift County in eight innings Tuesday, Lee and Colquitt are both 2-0 in Region 1-AAAAAA play. They meet Friday at Packer Park in Moultrie.

But Tuesday belonged to starter Tyler Goff, who dominated Valdosta until the sixth when the Wildcats scored a pair of unearned runs off the senior starter. He allowed just three hits and struck out seven before leaving after six innings.

“I wanted to finish it,” said Goff, who threw 97 pitches. “My arm felt good, my fastball was looking good and hitting the corners.”

Goff also benefited from solid defensive play, including catcher Garrett Suiter cutting down Valdosta’s Seth Shuman trying to steal second in the first inning, then he aided his own cause with a pickoff at first base in the second inning.

The Wildcats didn’t get a runner into scoring position until Jacob McMillan reached on an error with one out in the fourth, but Goff quickly got Shuman and Luke Ard to fly out to end the threat.

He cruised until a misplayed fly ball in the sixth allowed Wesley Veal to reach, then McMillan’s RBI single cut the deficit to 3-1. Shuman followed with a double to score McMillan before Goff got a strikeout to end the inning.

“He’s unbeaten this year and he’s done everything he’s been asked to do,” Lee County coach Brandon Brock said. “He gave up just one hit through five innings and two through six. To hold Valdosta to just three hits is amazing.”

Lee County staked Goff to a 2-0 advantage in the second inning on RBI singles from Brenton Phillips and Jonathan Logsden. Then Garet Morrell’s RBI double in the fifth scored Josh Hatcher to make it 3-0.

“It’s a big help coming in to pitch with a two-run lead,” Goff said. “It felt good. It’s a whole lot easier to pitch with runs than without runs.”

Morrell and Logsden each went 2-for-3 to lead the offense. Phillips went 1-for-3 with an RBI.

Shuman led Valdosta, going 2-for-3 with a double and a RBI, while McMillan finished 1-for-3 with an RBI.

Lee County will play host to Schley County, the top-ranked team in the Class A public schools rankings, today at 6 p.m.