BEFORE SERIOUS thunderstorms opened up all over north Georgia Monday night, Jackson County unleashed a downpour of its own on Oglethorpe County.
Riding a two-game losing skid, the Panther baseball team smacked the visiting Patriots 17-2 in just three innings, scoring 10 runs in the second inning alone to improve to 7-7 in subregion play and move back into fourth place by half a game.
It was an evening for number crunching as Jackson County coach Tommy Fountain noted that his lineup went a combined 17-for-23 in the win.
“That’s amazing,” he said. “They didn’t walk a ton of folks and didn’t make an error. We just pounded the ball tonight.”
Tony Holton did a lot of the pounding. The senior centerfielder socked two home runs in the second inning alone and went 3-for-3 with four RBIs and three runs. John Florentine also drove in four runs, going 4-for-4 and scoring three runs.
Others doing damage were Andy Williams (2-for-3, double, two runs, two RBIs), Quin Grogan (2-for-3, double, two runs, two RBIs), Trey Sorrells (2-for-2, double, RBI), Josh Andrews (2-for-3, double, two runs, two RBIs) and Austin Robinson (1-for-2, two walks, double, two runs).
After his team struggled offensively in losses to Jefferson (Thursday) and Elbert County (Friday), Fountain figured his team was due.
“I guess after five hits in the last 14 innings, things were bound to even out,” he said. “I was very proud of our guys for having better approaches at the plate tonight. We struggled the last two games staying inside the ball, so we really talked about it after the game on Friday and worked hard in the cage today before the game staying inside the ball. Obviously, it paid off.”
Fountain said he knew Oglethorpe County was thin on pitching but threw a decent starter Monday night. But Jackson County’s bats were just too much during a five-run first inning.
“Austin Robinson opened the game with a ground rule double to right center and it got contagious from there,” Fountain said.
The Panthers’ first seven batters reached base, five of which picked up base hits to right field.
With overwhelming run support, Jalen Banks picked up a very abbreviated three-inning complete game victory. He surrendered two runs and three hits while striking out three.
Jackson County now has four games left in the regular season in its quest to earn one of the four spots out of the subregion to the 8-AA playoffs, which start April 22.
The Panthers take on second-place Hart County today (Wednesday) on the road followed by a Monday pairing with third-place North Oconee at home. Jackson County closes the regular season against rivals East Jackson (April 13) and Jefferson (April 15) at home.
Jackson County fell 9-2 to subregion-leading Elbert County three days earlier on the road. The Blue Devils scored two runs in the first inning and broke the game open with four more scores in the second inning to take a 6-1 lead en route to the seven-run victory.
