No. 2 PCHS wins opener behind trio of pitchers
BEARVILLE — Pierce County scored at least one run in each inning stretching its winning streak to nine games with an 8-1 Region 3-AA victory here Tuesday over visiting Crisp County.
The Bears (16-3 overall, 7-0 region), ranked second by ScoreAtlanta and third by MaxPreps, handed the Cougars (7-12, 1-3) a fourth loss in five games.
Emmitt Hall (3 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 4 K, 2 BB) stranded seven Crisp County baserunners leaving with a 5-0 lead through three innings.
The Cougars sandwiched a pair of two-out singles around a walk in the first inning. They left two in the second getting a one-out base hit and an error. Crisp County received a two-out walk and a single in the third inning.
PCHS struck for two runs in the bottom of the first after Hall’s escape. Chance Williams (1-for-1) led off with a four-pitch walk, the first of three free passes.
He stole second and moved to third on Jack McClellan’s (2-for-4) groundout. Jonathan Stone (1-for-4) followed with an opposite field single and raced to third when the ball was misplayed in right field. Stone scored on a passed ball for the 2-0 advantage.
The Bears plated two runs in the second after two outs and nobody on base with three straight singles.
Bryson Smith (1-for-2) singled to keep the inning alive. After moving up on a wild pitch, Smith raced home on Grayson Arington’s (1-for-3) bloop single to right. Arington, who took second on the throw to the plate, scored when Williams followed with a run-scoring single to center upping the lead to 4-0.
Pierce County scored a run in the third in building a 5-0 lead. McClellan led off with a base hit, advanced around to third on a wild pitch, and scored on Stone’s groundout.
A two-out run in the fourth extended the lead to 6-0. Williams drew a two-out, four-pitch walk to keep the inning moving. He scored from first when Hodges’ fly ball to right was misplayed into a two-base error.
Crisp County dented the scoreboard in the top of the fifth against reliever Kolton Brogdon (3 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 3K, 0 BB). A one-out double was followed by a fielding error allowing the Cougars’ runner to score cutting the margin to 6-1.
PCHS got the run back in the bottom of the fifth. A Dylan Johnson (1for-4) one-out single was followed by a walk to Christian Osbourne and an error on a ball hit by Brantley Willis loading the bases. Smith lifted a 2-1 pitch for a sacrifice fly to center scoring Johnson give the Bears a 7-1 lead.
Pierce County added a final run in the sixth. Williams led off with a walk and raced to third on an errant pickoff attempts. Hodges’ groundout scored Williams extending the margin to 8-1.
Cooper Davis worked a scoreless seventh for the Bears. He fanned two and walked two.
