Steven Williams’ late homer helps Deerfield-Windsor top Schley County

ALBANY — A home run over the center field fence by senior catcher Steven Williams lifted Deerfield-Windsor to a 13-12 win over visiting Schley County Thursday night to end a wild back-and-forth game.

Williams had a homer, a double and a single while scoring two runs and knocking in three.

“He came up in some big spots and didn’t miss,” Deerfield-Windsor coach Jonathan Davis said. “He did a nice job at the plate tonight.”

Deerfield Windsor and Schley County were battling in a GISA vs. GHSA crossover game. The Knights have won back-to-back GISA Class AAA state titles, while Schley County was a GHSA Class A public school state champion in 2015 and a state semifinalist last season.

The Knights took a 12-9 lead into the seventh inning, but Schley battled back and tied the score with a two-out double that scored two runs.

“Our pitchers are just not in the zone yet,” Davis said. “We are throwing a lot of guys right now, trying to get our guys into that zone. We still have to work on that, especially in these marathon games we’ve had the last couple of times out.”

Drew Reich recorded the win as he was the pitcher of record when Williams smacked his homer to end the game. But the mound was a busy place for the Knights.

Sophomore right-hander Jack Kimbrell started the game and pitched three scoreless innings. In the fourth, the Knights called on freshman Joe Morgan to take the mound. Morgan inherited a 4-0 lead, but he struggled with the strong Wildcat lineup and allowed three runs.

His struggles continued in the fifth as Schley pulled ahead with four more runs. In the top of the fifth inning, second baseman Bo Bueschen was moved to the mound with two runners on. After getting his first out, Bueschen’s next pitch was smacked over the right field fence for a three run homerun that gave the Wildcats a 7-4 lead.

But if the pitchers were not in the zone, the Knights’ offense seemed to be. Each time the Wildcats took the lead, the Knights came right back. The scoring for Deerfield-Windsor started in the third inning with four runs. Two runs came on a single to left by John Logan. The other two runs came on a home run by Baylin Moore over the left field fence, just inside the foul line.

After falling behind 9-4 in the top of the fifth, the Knights responded. Williams had two hits in the inning. He started the inning with a single and scored the last runs of the inning with a two-run double that gave the Knights an 11-9 lead.

The Knights are 2-1 on the young season, while the Wildcats fell to 8-2.