With just four games left in the regular season, the Jackson County Panthers are looking to end their season on a high note. The Panthers find themselves in the midst of a four game losing streak as they play host to Morgan County today (Wednesday) in their final home game of the season.
Morgan County enters play this week 7-6 in the region and in the midst of a four game winning streak, having just defeated Mountain View this week.
First pitch is scheduled for 5:55 p.m.
Eastside
Coming off a loss to Stephens County, the Panthers were hoping to regain some traction against the Eagles of Eastside last Thursday.
The Panthers got out front early, and had a 3-0 advantage by the end of the second inning. The Eagles responded by putting two across in the third, and were threatening more, but pitcher John Florentine worked his way out of a bases-loaded jam.
Matt Bridgeman came on in relief in the fourth, and that’s when Eastside struck.
The Eagles got five hits and a walk, and would end up taking a 10-3 lead before it was through.
The Panthers cut the lead to 10-5 in the fifth inning off of a sac fly RBI from Austin Robinson and an RBI single from Quinn Grogan.
With Grogan on the mound in relief for Bridgeman, Eastside extended their lead to make it 11-5 in the sixth. Jackson County responded by scoring another run when Zach Sticher made it a groundout.
Eastside added their final run in the top of the seventh, and would hang on to win 12-6.
Bridgeman recorded the loss after relieving Florentine.
“We came out and hit the ball well and played good defense,” said coach Tommy Fountain. “Eastside is 12-1 in the region for a reason. Their lineup is so powerful and dangerous. It’s just a matter of time before they break through. Today, it happened in the fourth inning.”
Franklin County
Hoping to turn their fortunes, the Panthers traveled north Monday to face the Lions.
It didn’t work out that way. Franklin County pitched a two-hitter, backing it up with three home runs. The Panthers gave up nine runs on eight hits in three and 2/3 innings. The Lions would score their last two runs to end the game in five innings, winning 12-2.
Austin Robinson recorded his second consecutive loss on the mound to drop to 6-2 on the season. Rob Williams and Zach Sticher had the only hits of the game.
For more on this story, see Wednesday's edition of The Jackson Herald or The Braselton News.
