It hasn’t taken the Bethlehem Christian Academy baseball team long to get noticed.
In their first full season of varsity competition, the Knights are making waves in the Georgia Independent Schools Association. Tuesday afternoon saw BCA (5-1 overall) defeat Piedmont Academy, a perennial GISA state playoff program, 5-4 at home.
The Knights jumped out to a 5-0 lead after the fourth inning and they held off a late rally attempt by the Cougars, who left the bases loaded in both the sixth and seventh innings.
“This type of game gets us ready to possibly be in the playoffs,” said BCA coach Nick Pou. “We had a one-run, extra inning loss to Gatewood earlier this week so it was good to be able to come back and win a close game against a team which will likely be in the playoffs for Class AA.”
Niko Mailloux got the call as the starting pitcher for the Knights Tuesday and worked 4.2 innings before giving way to Jared Martin who worked out of some late inning jams.
Mailloux had four strikeouts while striking out three batters in the top of the seventh to preserve the victory.
Piedmont left the bases loaded in the top of the sixth and seventh innings and could not tie the score. The Cougars had the bases loaded with no outs in the seventh but managed just one run.
“Jared and Niko have been our gunslingers,” Pou said. “They definitely got our of some jams today. Jared just came in and threw strikes. That’s what we needed.”
BCA put two runs on the board in the bottom of the third inning. Chase Curtis had a leadoff walk followed by a double from Mailloux to give the Knights runners at second and third with no outs. Jordan Fountain then grounded out to second which allowed Curtis to reach home.
Martin would later reach on an error which brought Mailloux home.
BCA added three more in the bottom of the fourth and each run would prove valuable. Brody German had a lead single. Chance Spratlin then reached on an error giving the Knights runners at first and second with no outs.
Chandler Garmon had a sacrifice bunt to move the runners over. Curtis then delivered a two-run single scoring German and Spratlin. Curtis would eventually score when Mailloux reached on an error.
Piedmont put two runs on the board in the top of the fifth and added one more in both the sixth and seventh innings. Cougar coach Danny Camp said he believes BCA is already a contender for a possible state title in Class A.
“I’m not sure who in Class A can really compete with them,” Camp said. “They are a very good baseball team.”
