Ware County’s junior varsity Gators, winners in eight of their last 10 games, sweep the twogame series with Coffee.
The Gators (9-3-1), fresh off a Saturday, March 15 doubleheader sweep of Toombs County, blasted the Trojans 172 Monday, March 17 in Douglas.
Ware County rode the complete game, no-hitter Wednesday, March 19 of right-hander Isaiah White to finish the sweep with a 3-0 home win.
The Gators hosted Vidalia, March 24. They travel today (Wednesday, March 26) to Vidalia. Ware County closes out the month visiting Wayne County March 31 for a 5 p.m. start. Wayne County visits Thursday, April 3 at 5 p.m.
Gators ............................17 Coffee ..............................2
DOUGLAS — Ware County scored five runs over the first three innings and put the game away with 12 runs over the final three innings to beat the Trojans.
Tanner Lairsey led five players with multi-hit games going 3-for-3. Keaton Holloway, Garrison Joyner, Lucas Howard and Eli Watkins each finished with two hits.
The Gators scored three times in their first at bat. Holloway (2for-4) lined a leadoff single racing to third on a fielding error. Joyner (2-for-3) legged out an infield hit scoring Holloway with the first run.
Joyner advanced to second on a passed ball. He raced home from second on a wild pitch for a 2-0 lead. White (1-for-3) tripled down the rightfield line and scored on Lairsey’s firstpitch single extending the lead to 3-0 four batters into the game.
Coffee scored in the bottom of the inning on a run-scoring single against Howard (4 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 3 K, 2 BB, 1 WP) cutting the lead to 3-1.
Ware County scored single runs in the second and third innings. Lairsey delivered a twoout, run-scoring double in the second driving home Holloway. Asher Lee’s (1-for-3) two-out, run-scoring single in the third scored Howard’s courtesy runner, R. Gilbert, for a 5-1 advantage.
A two-out wild pitch in the fifth plated Chaden Carter (1for-4) extending Ware County’s lead to 6-1.
The Gators exploded for six runs in the sixth inning to open up a 12-1 lead. Joyner got the scoring started with a RBI single.
Holloway and Joyner raced home to score on a wild pitches for a 9-1 lead. Carter followed with a run-scoring groundout. Two errors allowed the final two runs to cross the plate for a 12-1 advantage.
The Trojans scored a run in the bottom of the inning on a run-scoring base hit against Eli Watkins (1 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 0 K, 2 BB, 1 WP), who followed Lee and Joyner to the mound, to close the deficit to 12-2. Both pitchers surrendered a hit.
The game went to a seventh inning despite a 10-run lead. Ware County scored five times for the final margin.
Carter drove in the first run with a bases loaded single, Howard (2-for-3) drew a walk forcing home a run, Watkins (2for-5) singled in a run, Sage Delk walked pushing in a run and Brodie Burchett hit a sacrifice fly.
Lairsey pitched the bottom of the inning striking out one and walking two.
Gators ..................................3 Coffee...................................0
White faced three batters over the minimum in outdueling Coffee’s Will Day.
White needed 83 pitches facing 24 batters. He fanned five and walked three. Six batted balls left the infield. White was in trouble just once when he issued consecutive two-out walks in the fifth.
Day allowed just three hits, fanned three and walked three in his six-inning complete game. He hit two batters, uncorked four wild pitches and threw 85 pitches.
Ware County scored the only run White would need in the second inning. Carter (1-for-2) singled and Burchett (1-for-3) reached via a sacrifice bunt with one out. Burchett eventually scored on a wild pitch.
The Gators’ final two runs came in the fourth inning. Howard drew a leadoff walk with Carter getting hit two pitches later. A double steal was followed by consecutive one-out wild pitches scoring both for a 3-0 lead.
