Even outside region play last week, the Greyhounds found some late-inning magic. Trailing by a run through five innings, Jones County rallied to beat West Laurens Thursday at Cecil Patterson field on Davis Upshaw’s single in the eighth inning to cement the extra-inning victory. “We like the late innings, apparently,” Greyhounds head coach Mike Paulk said. “We hung in, played good defense behind our pitchers and gave ourselves an opportunity to get back in the fight.”
Keeping up the momentum last week was tantamount for the Greyhounds (5-8), who jump back into region play this week against Ola with the final two games between the teams scheduled for Friday on the road. JCHS hosted the Mustangs Tuesday.
Jones County also played Adairsville on the road Saturday, falling 10-3 and 9-0.
Despite falling behind early against West Laurens on Thursday, there was no sense of panic. Jones County’s pitching had much to do with that. After starting pitcher Cason Taylor spotted the Raiders a run in the top of the first, he and relievers Landon Pettigrew and Cayden Tidwell clamped down.
After Taylor gave up a run and three hits through three innings, striking out four batters, the ball was handed to the bullpen. Pettigrew and Tidwell were up to the challenge, combining to give up no hits and striking out nine in five innings, helped by defense behind them that made play after play and more vitally, did not commit any errors to extend innings.
“At any position, I feel we have guys who can provide us some good defense,” Paulk said. “It ups the confidence for our pitchers that any pitch that they throw; we’ll be ok.”
The Greyhounds pitching and defense kept them close. And in the late innings, Jones County’s bats did enough to cash in.
After being rendered hitless through the early innings, Jones County broke through and then some. In the sixth, a Dalton Lowe single, Junior Holloway being hit by a pitch and a sacrifice bunt by Brayden Lampkin moved Lowe to third. Colin Evans took advantage, tying the game on a sacrifice fly, scoring Lowe from third.
The Greyhounds nearly won the game in the seventh, loading the bases on a single by MJ Lane, infield hit by Cohen Barfield and Micah Howard being hit by a pitch, before West Laurens ended the threat.
There would be no missing out in the eighth inning. Lampkin led off, was moved over to second on a sacrifice bunt by Colin Evans before Upshaw ripped a single to the outfield, enough to enable Lampkin to race home for the winning run.
“He’s been a guy we look to in the clutch,” Paulk said of Upshaw. “We know that anywhere we put him in the lineup, he’ll come through for us.”
Lampkin, Lane, Upshaw and Barfield each had hits against West Laurens with Evans and Upshaw driving in runs.
