Chris Whitaker
ELLAVILLE — In the teams’ season opener, Schley County dominated Marion County in a rout, 25-3.
But on Wednesday in the rematch, it was a different story.
The Wildcats jumped out to a 5-0 lead thanks to a 2-run home run from Ryan Barnes in the third, and closer Jesse Colter shut the door in the seventh for a 5-2 win.
“Coach Goodroe has done a good job with them, and they played a lot better defense,” said Schley coach Chuck Cheek. “Lucas (Singleton) looked a lot more in control on the mound. I felt our approach to the plate was pretty good. A few times we had a chance to break the game open and didn’t take advantage of it. It almost came back to haunt us at the end.”
Schley (5-0) didn’t waste any time getting on the scoreboard, knocking in two runs in the first inning before stranding two. Jonathon Deriso and Taylor Law each had RBI-singles up the middle and had the bases loaded when Cody Patrick hit into one of three Schley County double plays on the day.
A Jett Coptsias single to right field put Schley up 3-0 in the third, and Barnes followed with a home run to right center.
“That gave us a nice lead there; we like being up five runs if we can where one swing of the bat doesn’t tie the game,” said Cheek. “We were hoping his bat would come through this year, and he’s really worked hard to become one of the leaders on the team by his work ethic.”
Marion (5-3) scored two in the fifth inning on a Kain McTaggart shot that went under Deriso’s glove at third base. McTaggart was Preston Stewart’s first batter after Barnes left with the bases loaded.
Stewart responded by recording a strikeout and fly-out to end the inning.
“That was great,” said Cheek. “The thing about Preston, no matter what the situation is, he’s going to come in and throw strikes for us. There probably should have been at most given up one run there.”
The Wildcats had two on in the fourth when Nick Hunter took the mound for Marion and got Jimbo Horne to hit into an inning-ending double play.
Austin Blankenship hit into a double play for Marion in the sixth after a pair of singles to start the inning, and the Eagles faced Colter in his first action of the season in the seventh.
Colter didn’t start well, walking his first batter on four pitches. After a strikeout and foul-out, Casey Hess walked to have runners on first and third.
Colter closed the game by getting Hunter to fly out to right field.
“We were kind of hoping to get in a situation where we could bring Jesse in; it was the first time he’s been cleared to pitch. We’ve got two really big region games next week, and we didn’t want him going out there not having thrown some. I thought after the first batter, Jesse looked pretty good considering it was his first outing. He came out with no pain or soreness, and that’s a great sign for us.”
Barnes led Schley with two hits as the Wildcats had seven compared with five for the Eagles.
For Marion, Singleton pitched 3.2 innings, allowing five runs on six hits.
Schley is back in action today, weather permitting, against Stewart-Quitman in a doubleheader.
Monday baseball
Southland 6, Fullington 4
Collin Holloway pitched four innings and allowed an unearned run and two hits, and Alan Maples and Ryan Johnson each had two hits in the season-opening win.
Jake Hill got the save.
“Collin pitched really well,” said coach Tim Goodin. “His control was exceptional. He will do well this year if he stays healthy and continues on this pace.
“Defensively, we made a few errors that I hope we will not normally make. Overall, we did play a good game for the first game of the year. It was Fullington’s fourth game.”
The Raiders scored three runs in the first and third innings to hold on for the win.
Southland is scheduled to host Sherwood at 4:30 p.m. today.
Tuesday soccer
Tiftarea 6, Southland 0
CHULA — The Lady Raiders lost 6-0 in the soccer match on Tuesday.
“We played a very aggressive match with Tiftarea,” said coach Michael Pepito. “This first game was a learning experience fitting players into right positions and learning to perform as a team. We made first-game mistakes which led to most of their scores, but seemed to come together as the game went on. We showed aspects of a great soccer team at times, but our mistakes out numbered our good points. We will get better.”
Lee County sweeps Americus-Sumter
LEESBURG — Seth Landis scored in the seventh minute of the game to give the Panthers an early lead, but they fell 6-1.
The girls lost 10-0.
Americus-Sumter is scheduled to play Monroe today, but that depends on the weather.
Monday tennis
The Lady Panthers upended Lee County 3-2 while the boys fell 3-2.
Mallory Pinnell won 6-4, 3-6, 6-4 in No. 1 singles, and Chelsie Battle won in No. 3 singles, 7-5, 6-4. The duo of Ciara James and Emmie Barrios pulled off the deciding win, coming out with a 6-4, 4-6, 6-2 victory.
Wednesday’s match against Thomas County Central was postponed.
