Tight region baseball race enters final stretch
If Monday night’s Raider win is any indication, the final stretch of the region baseball season is headed for a photo finish.
Madison County kept pace in the tight Region 8-AAAA playoff race with a walk-off, two-out, game-winning single in the bottom of the seventh inning from Matthew Robinson against Rockdale County.
Matthew "Raybo" Robinson tags a Rockdale County player attempting to steal second.
‘This is what it’s all about’
Robinson’s heroics lifted the Raiders (17-5, 13-3) to a 4-3 victory and kept the team tied for second place in 8-AAAA with Loganville at press time Wednesday.
Winder-Barrow (12-4) is one game behind in fourth place.
“Yeah, it’s going to be fun these last few games,” coach Charlie Griffeth said.
The Raiders trailed region leader Heritage by half a game, as of Wednesday morning.
Madison County, slated to have faced Apalachee Wednesday afternoon (results weren’t available at press time), closes the regular season with Clarke Central (Friday), Cedar Shoals (Monday) and Winder-Barrow (Wednesday).
The Raiders are vying for a second-straight playoff berth and a 20-win season.
“This is what it’s all about,” Griffeth said. “That’s why you give up half your summer and freeze during practice before the season.”
The Raiders went up 3-2 in the bottom of the sixth Monday with a homer from Dustin Roberts. However, Rockdale County evened the score with a solo homerun off Robinson, who took the mound in the seventh inning in relief of starter Jack May.
But Bracken Turner reached base in the bottom of the seventh and moved to second on a sacrifice, setting up Robinson’s game-winner.
Though Robinson blew the save, he earned the win from the mound with his one inning of relief.
May worked six innings for a no-decision, allowing two earned runs, six hits and two walks while striking out six.
Offensively, Madison County was able to overcome one of the best pitchers in the region, Buck Farmer, who has signed with Georgia Tech.
Farmer throws between 88-90 mph and has good command of three pitches.
“I would say he’s got the best stuff in the region,” Griffeth said.
Madison County jumped out to a 2-0 lead on Farmer and Rockdale County.
Turner led off the third inning with a double and later scored off an error for the Raiders’ first run. Bo Dalton then drove home the Raiders’ second run with a two-strike, two-out single in the fourth.
The win was much-needed for a Madison County team that had lost three of its last five region games after a 10-0 start.
“Yeah, it was,” Griffeth said. “It was a game we needed confidence-wise.”
•Hab. Central 5, MCHS 3 (April 17): Madison County fell to a lower-rung region team Friday, losing 5-3 to Habersham Central.
Habersham scored three times in the top of the fourth inning en route to the upset victory.
Habersham, which entered the game tied for eighth place in Region 8-AAAA, added an insurance score in the top of the seventh.
Madison County tried to rally with a two-out, two-run double from Ian Drake in the bottom of the seventh, but the comeback fell short.
Drake drove home all three of the Raiders’ scores.
The game was tied 1-1 until the top of the fourth when Habersham Central broke the stalemate with an RBI double. The visitors then tacked on two more insurance runs, scoring from third twice off of groundouts to pull ahead 4-1.
•MCHS 10, Monroe Area 0 (April 16): The Raiders run-ruled Monroe Area for the second time this year with a 10-0 stomping of the Purple Hurricanes April 16.
Madison County struck for four runs in the first, one in the second, four more in the third and another in the fourth.
Roberts, who had two hits, homered and drove home three runs while Ian Drake also went deep. Matt Dean added to the hit parade with three RBIs.
May earned the win, holding the Purple Hurricanes to just one hit in four innings of work. He struck out two and walked one.
Robinson provided an inning of scoreless relief, striking out one.
Winder-Barrow (12-4) is one game behind in fourth place.
“Yeah, it’s going to be fun these last few games,” coach Charlie Griffeth said.
The Raiders trailed region leader Heritage by half a game, as of Wednesday morning.
Madison County, slated to have faced Apalachee Wednesday afternoon (results weren’t available at press time), closes the regular season with Clarke Central (Friday), Cedar Shoals (Monday) and Winder-Barrow (Wednesday).
The Raiders are vying for a second-straight playoff berth and a 20-win season.
“This is what it’s all about,” Griffeth said. “That’s why you give up half your summer and freeze during practice before the season.”
The Raiders went up 3-2 in the bottom of the sixth Monday with a homer from Dustin Roberts. However, Rockdale County evened the score with a solo homerun off Robinson, who took the mound in the seventh inning in relief of starter Jack May.
But Bracken Turner reached base in the bottom of the seventh and moved to second on a sacrifice, setting up Robinson’s game-winner.
Though Robinson blew the save, he earned the win from the mound with his one inning of relief.
May worked six innings for a no-decision, allowing two earned runs, six hits and two walks while striking out six.
Offensively, Madison County was able to overcome one of the best pitchers in the region, Buck Farmer, who has signed with Georgia Tech.
Farmer throws between 88-90 mph and has good command of three pitches.
“I would say he’s got the best stuff in the region,” Griffeth said.
Madison County jumped out to a 2-0 lead on Farmer and Rockdale County.
Turner led off the third inning with a double and later scored off an error for the Raiders’ first run. Bo Dalton then drove home the Raiders’ second run with a two-strike, two-out single in the fourth.
The win was much-needed for a Madison County team that had lost three of its last five region games after a 10-0 start.
“Yeah, it was,” Griffeth said. “It was a game we needed confidence-wise.”
•Hab. Central 5, MCHS 3 (April 17): Madison County fell to a lower-rung region team Friday, losing 5-3 to Habersham Central.
Habersham scored three times in the top of the fourth inning en route to the upset victory.
Habersham, which entered the game tied for eighth place in Region 8-AAAA, added an insurance score in the top of the seventh.
Madison County tried to rally with a two-out, two-run double from Ian Drake in the bottom of the seventh, but the comeback fell short.
Drake drove home all three of the Raiders’ scores.
The game was tied 1-1 until the top of the fourth when Habersham Central broke the stalemate with an RBI double. The visitors then tacked on two more insurance runs, scoring from third twice off of groundouts to pull ahead 4-1.
•MCHS 10, Monroe Area 0 (April 16): The Raiders run-ruled Monroe Area for the second time this year with a 10-0 stomping of the Purple Hurricanes April 16.
Madison County struck for four runs in the first, one in the second, four more in the third and another in the fourth.
Roberts, who had two hits, homered and drove home three runs while Ian Drake also went deep. Matt Dean added to the hit parade with three RBIs.
May earned the win, holding the Purple Hurricanes to just one hit in four innings of work. He struck out two and walked one.
Robinson provided an inning of scoreless relief, striking out one.
Trackbacks
Trackback specific URI for this entry
No Trackbacks