HINESVILLE — Ware County closed out the regular season Thursday finishing off a season-ending three-game Region 1-AAAAA sweep here of Bradwell Institute winning 17-4. The victory moved the Gators (14-15 overall, 9-6 region) to the third with fourth-ranked Greenbrier’s (24-4, 14-1) three-game sweep of Statesboro (17-10-1, 9-6). Ware County opened the Class 5A tournament Monday afternoon (April 24) in McDonough against Region 2 runner-up Ola (20-9) with a doubleheader beginning at 4 p.m. The “if” game was scheduled for Tuesday (April 25) at 5 p.m. The winner advances to face the winner of second-ranked Region 3 champion McIntosh (24-5) and Region 4 fourth-seed Arabia Mountain (9-9-2) in the second round. Other Region 1 vs. Region 2 matchups has region champion Greenbrier hosting fourth-seed Jones County (8-22) and region runner-up Coffee (18-12) hosting third-seed Union Grove (16-13). Fourth-seed Statesboro travels to fifth-ranked region champion Locust Grove (27-2-1). Second round action is scheduled to start Saturday, April 29 with a doubleheader and Monday, May 1 “if” needed. Gators 17 Bradwell Institute 4 Lane Steedley raced around the basess for his second homer of the season and drove in five runs for the second straight game powering Ware County to the win in six innings. Steedley went 4-for-4 in Game 3 and finished the series going 7-for-11 with 11 RBIs. The Gators opened and closed the game with a pair of five-running innings. They scored in all six at bats in handing the Tigers (7-18, 3-12) a seventh consecutive loss to end the season. Bradwell Institute dropped 13 of its last 14 games. Ware County opened the first with three consecutive singles by Bryce Dixon (3-for-5), Caden Henderson (1-for-4) and Walker Hudson (1-for-3) in taking a 2-0 lead. Dixon scored on Henderson’s hit when the ball was misplayed into a two-base error. Hudson’s single scored Henderson. Hudson’s courtesy runner Easton Weathersby promptly stole second and third, two of 10 for the Gators, ahead of a walk to Steedley. A passed ball scored Weathersby with Steedley advancing to second and scoring on Landon Dean’s (2-for-4) double for a 4-0 lead. Dean, after moving up on a groundout, scored on a wild pitch. The Tigers got two runs back in the bottom of the first against Steedley (4 IP, 6 H, 4 R, 2 ER, 1 K, 3 BB, 1 WP) scoring on a single and a groundout. The Gators responded with a two-out, two-run inside-the-park homer by Steedley for a 7-2 lead. Hudson kept the inning alive with a two-out walk. Steedley hooked the next offering into right field and sped around the bases to score. Ware County stretched the margin to 9-2 in the third inning. Slade Sweat (2-for-3) opening the inning with a walk. He stole second and third while Alex Justice (2-for-3) worked a walk putting runners on the corners. After Sweat swiped home on a double steal for the first run, Dixon’s one-out single scored Justice for the seven-run advantage. Steedley opened the fourth with a leadoff single after fouling off three consecutive offerings. He stole second and eventually scored on Sweat’s two-out single to left for a 10-2 lead. The Tigers plated a pair of runs in the fourth on passed balls cutting the lead to 10-4. The Gators would answe with two runs in the fifth. Cole Cox (2-for-4) got the inning started with a single and Henderson drew a one-out walk. Both scored on Steedley’s two-out double extending the lead to 12-4. Ware County followed with a five-run sixth. Sweat lined a leadoff single, advanced to second and third on back-to-back passed balls, and scored when Justice reached on a three-base error A run-scoring single by Cox plated Justice for a 14-4 lead. Following Cox’s theft of second, Dixon doubled him home. After a one-out walk to pinch-hitter Zach Watson, Steedley doubled scoring Dixon. Watson scored the final run on a passed ball.
Lane Steedley, connecting for a run-scoring base hit in Tuesday’s Game 2 five-RBI outing against Bradwell Institute, hit a homer and drove in five more runs in Thursday’s rout. Steedley went 7-for-11 with 11 runs batted in in Ware County’s three-game sweep.
