Baseball, especially with multiple games, presents ample opportunities for the good and bad.
The Greyhounds experienced both sides of that last week, sweeping one of the region’s top teams, Locust Grove in 5-2 and 18-10 wins prior to suffering their first region loss of the season on Friday in a headache-inducing 7-0 loss to Union Grove. The Greyhounds bounced back Monday, topping Union Grove 12-7 to improve to 13-2 overall and 5-1 in the region.
The Greyhounds, who this week wrap up a pair of games against Stockbridge, came away from Monday tied for second in the region.
“We want to beat everyone we play. If that’s not your goal, I don’t know why you’re doing this,” Greyhounds head coach Noble Coley said. “We knew we had two really good teams back-to-back and said we needed to at least be 3-1.”
Due to weather, last week’s region games came in a span of three contests in four days. The start of that stretch was very good to JCHS, as six-plus shutout innings by Dalton Lowe keyed a 5-2 win as Emerson Robinson had three hits and three RBIs with Davis Upshaw adding two hits along with a Jonathan Scarbary double. Jones County’s win came as it took control early, leading 3-1 after two innings.
Offense was the order of the day with play shifting to Cecil Patterson Field. The Greyhounds led early and led big, going up 7-0 after two innings and 15-4 after four innings, more than enough offensive production for JCHS as all but one batter in the starting lineup had at least a hit.
Four hits by Scarbary, who also had two RBIs and a double as well as three hits and six RBIs and a homer by Noah Robinson, led the way as Brayden Lampkin had three hits with two each by Cason Taylor, Davis Upshaw and Trent Paulk. Paulk, Landon Pettigrew and Tidwell combined for the win on the mound of the Hounds.
For all that was good against Locust Grove, Friday against Union Grove was the opposite, as a walk and bunt single by the Wolverines in the second inning would load the bases in what would be a 5-0 Union Grove lead by the time the inning ended.
Jones County would be held to one hit, kept off-balance at the plate in a 7-0 loss.
“There are good nights and bad nights. (Friday) was one of those bad nights. The frustrating thing was that we had one bad inning and kind of let it snowball from there,” Coley said. “We are a good team and have to learn how to bounce back from adversity.”
That loss came at the end of a stretch of three games in four days, but Coley did not point to that as an excuse for Friday’s contrast compared to earlier in the week.
“Locust Grove was a good team. Union Grove is a good team, and we’re a good team. We are trying to prepare for the playoffs, and this is how it will be when we get there,” Coley said. “When you’re tired and not feeling your best, you have to find another gear, and I take responsibility for that.”
