A first-place finish in the subregion has gone by the wayside, so now Jefferson must fend off Jackson County for the second place slot out of Region 8-AA South.
Jefferson and Jackson County play today (Wednesday) in a long-awaited rematch of their Sept. 9, eight-inning affair that the Dragons won 5-4.
Jefferson (18-7-1) finishes the subregion schedule tomorrow (Thursday) against fourth-place Oglethorpe County.
The Region 8-AA tournament starts Saturday. The top two seeds out of each subregion get to host their first and second round matchups.
North Oconee (23-5-1, 11-0) has clinched the south subregion title. Jefferson fell to the no. 4 ranked Titans 3-0 over the weekend at a game played at North Georgia College as North Oconee’s Kayla Byram threw a near perfect game.
Jefferson’s Anna Alexander, who drew a walk to open the game, was the only Dragon to reach base.
Two Jefferson errors in the third inning led to North Oconee’s three runs.
Morgan McKinney took the loss, surrendering six hits, one earned run and two walks. She had two strikeouts.
Two days earlier, the Dragons — who have doubled their win total from last year — withstood a comeback Thursday against East Jackson to defeat the scrappy Eagles 6-3.
Jefferson maintained a 5-0 lead until the bottom of the sixth inning when East Jackson struck for three runs.
McKinney came on in relief of starting pitcher Kara Perry and got the final two outs of that inning. After Jefferson added an insurance score in the top of the seventh, McKinney recorded the final three outs of the game as Jefferson completed the regular season sweep of East Jackson.
Perry earned the victory working five and one-third innings, allowing five hits, two earned runs and no walks while striking out six.
Offensively, Jordyn Whitfield paced Jefferson with a 4-for-4 day, with two doubles and two runs. Summer Bartek also went 2-for-3 with two runs and an RBI. McKinney (1-for-2), Tristan McGarity (1-for-1), Ashley Boyd (1-for-4) and Kasey McDonald (1-for-4) drove in runs as well.
