Chris Whitaker
ELLAVILLE — Taylor Law’s 3-run home run over the center field fence capped a 11-run fourth inning as Schley County whipped Turner County 12-2 on Tuesday.
Cody Patrick pitched a complete game three-hitter, striking out six and walking three as the Wildcats improved to 6-0 overall and won their first region game.
“The fourth inning will get most of the headlines, but I can’t say enough about how well Cody pitched,” said coach Chuck Cheek. “He kept us in the game early when we were struggling staying back against their left-hander. He had good control of his off-speed pitches and ran his cutter in on their hitters a lot. He got in trouble once, but made good pitches in key situations, and we made a couple of nice defensive plays to get out of it.”
Mitchell Donahoo’s RBI-double in the second gave Turner a 1-0 lead, and Jett Coptsias led off the bottom half of the inning with a solo home run to tie the game.
“I thought that was a big at-bat for our team,” said Cheek. “It was the first time we had trailed this year, and it made sure we kept momentum on our side.”
Then things went south for Turner in the fourth.
Schley scored all 11 runs with no outs. Ryan Barnes and Colton Satterfield each had 2-run singles, Rick Roland had a RBI-single, and two scored off an error on a catch in right field. Law then delivered the knock out blow.
“I felt like Ryan’s at-bat gave us some confidence, and we relaxed at the plate and started hitting the ball better,” said Cheek. “Taylor hit one of the hardest balls we’ve ever seen here in the last eight years. I wasn’t sure if it was high enough to get out, but he hit it so hard that it didn’t matter.
“Colton and Rick also had really big hits for us in the inning. Not many times you go from a 1-1 tie to having to get three outs for a mercy rule. (Phillip) Williams pitched well against us the first time through the order, but the second time, we started getting to him. I liked the adjustments our guys made.”
The Rebels added one more on a Jay Alberson groundout in the fifth.
Jimbo Horne had two hits while seven others had one.
Wednesday’s doubleheader with Stewart County was re-scheduled for 4 p.m. today, and Schley hosts Hawkinsville on Friday in a battle of two of the top teams in 2A-A.
“They’ll have one of the best pitchers in the region going against us and probably one of the best we’ll see this year,” said Cheek.
