GREYHOUND BASEBALL
Monday's game against Warner Robins carried its share of gravity before it began, with the Greyhounds seniors being recognized.
It took on more weight by the time it was over, as a 14-0 win over the Demons in five innings clinched a spot in the state playoffs for Jones County. The Greyhounds will likely play at Greenbrier in Evans next Monday in the state playoffs, although there was an outside chance earlier in the week that Statesboro could slip past them for the No. 1 spot in their region.
“It’s big for us. It’s like I told our guys, senior day can either go really well or really bad,” Greyhounds
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head coach Mike Paulk said. “Sometimes it can be a loss of focus, and we didn't do that. I was glad we could do that for our seniors and get us into the state tournament. I could not prouder of them.”
Regardless, the Greyhounds, a team that battled youth from the start of the season, will advance to the postseason.
“We've been a four seed the past couple of years and done it with an older team,” Paulk said. “To do it with a younger team, for me, it gives us hope that the future is bright for us.”
Monday’s win saw Jones County have an answer for multiple Warner Robins pitchers, scoring four times in the first, once in the second, six times in the third and three times more in the fourth.
The at-plate dominance came following starting pitcher Brody Gordon pitching out of a bases-loaded jam with no outs in the first inning.
The Demons would not threaten to score after that.
The Greyhounds wasted little time getting on track offensively as a Dawson Harris single scored Colin Evans and Marlin Mills. Davis Upshaw would follow with a two-run single plating a 4-0 Greyhounds lead.
Up 5-0 following a sacrifice fly in the second, JCHS put things out of reach with a six-run third inning. After a two-run double by Bo Mansfield with the bases loaded, the lead was padded by a bunt single by Drew Jones, a run-scoring groundout, a walk drawn by Tucker Maddox and an infield hit by Upshaw, adding up to an 11-0 lead through three innings.
Mills ripped a two-run single in the fourth and he would score the Greyhounds final run of the game on a Harris groundout.
