Ware County’s junior varsity baseball team opened its 2026 season with a pair of home wins over Appling County and Camden County.
The Gators rallied from four runs down to beat the Pirates 6-4 Wednesday, February 11. They followed with a 9-1 victory over the Wildcats.
Ware County will host Lowndes today (Wednesday, February 18) in a doubleheader starting at 4:30 p.m. The Gators travel Thursday, February 19 to Camden County for a 5 p.m. start.
Road games Monday, February 23 at Cook and Wednesday, February 25 at Appling County dot the upcoming schedule.
Gators .....................6 Appling Co...............4
A three-run rally in the bottom of the sixth inning rallied the Gators from a 4-3 deficit en route to beating Appling County.
Hayes Sweat (1-for-1) led off the sixth with a first-pitch single. Sweat stole second and raced home on Blake Gunter’s (1-for-2) one-out double tying the game at 4-all.
Gunter’s courtesy runner, Chase Cone, tagged and moved to third on a fly ball to right. He raced home on a two-out, 2-2 wild pitch giving Ware County its first lead at 54.
Jayce Pearson walked, stole second and third, and raced home with the final run on the errant catcher’s throw to third on the stolen base attempt.
Wes Jordan, the fifth Ware County pitcher, worked a scoreless seventh.
The Pirates struck for three runs in the first inning against Asher Lee (2 IP, 2 H, 4 R, 0 ER, 1 K, 1 BB, 1 HBP, 1 WP) scoring on a two-out single and twice on a two-out error.
Appling County added an unearned run in the second scoring on a rundown for a 4-0 lead.
The Gators finally got on the scoreboard with a three-run fourth to get to within 4-3. Chaden Carter drew a one-out walk, stole second and scored on Reavis Barnes’ (1-for-2) ensuing single cutting the deficit to 4-1.
After Barnes stole second, Lee (1-for-2) laced a run-scoring single and took second on the throw to the plate. Lee stole third and scored on a two-out wild pitch getting Ware County to within 4-3.
Gators .....................9 Camden Co...............1
Four Ware County pitchers combined on a one-hitter in the win against the Wildcats.
Barnes (4.1 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 5 K, 2 BB, WP) got the start. Jaccheus Cooper (1.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 3 K, 1 BB, 1 WP), Cone (.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 K, 3 BB) and Jordan (.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 K, 0 BB) all worked in relief.
The Gators’ first four batters all had multi-hit games combining for eight of the 13 hits and drove in four runs.
Ware County plated a first inning run. Gunter (2-for-3) lined a leadoff single, stole second and scored on Lee’s (2-for-4) two-out double.
The Gators’ second run came in the fourth doubling the margin to 2-0. Trace Crosby (2-for-4) lined a first-pitch, leadoff double, moved to third on Trace Crosby’s (2-for-4) one-out infield hit, and scored on Pearson’s (1for-4) squeeze bunt.
The Wildcats cut the deficit in half in the top of the fifth scoring on a oneout wild pitch.
Ware County responded with two runs in the bottom of the inning to extend its lead to 4-1. Gunter ripped a firstpitch, leadoff triple and scored on Barnes’ (2-for-4) first-pitch single.
An error on a ball hit by Crosby and a sacrifice bunt by Lee loaded the bases. Sweat followed with a sacrifice fly for the three-run advantage.
The Gators dented the plate five times in the sixth for the final margin. Brodie Burchett (1-for-3) got the rally started with one-out single. After a walk to Gunter, Barnes and Crosby followed with run-scoring singles increasing the lead to 6-1.
Consecutive two-out erros by Camden County allowed the final three runs to cross the plate.
