THE JACKSON County baseball team lost 4-3 Wednesday at home to no. 4 Elbert County after an unsuccessful steal attempt of home place with two outs in the bottom of the seventh.
“I made the call and I rolled the dice and it just didn’t work,” Jackson County coach Tommy Fountain said.
The loss dropped the Panthers to 4-3 on the year and snapped a four-game winning streak. Jackson County is now 0-1 in subregion play.
“We felt like we kind of let one slip away to be honest,” Fountain said.
Jackson County won’t have to wait long for a chance at redemption. The Panthers play Elbert County Friday in Elberton in the second game of a home and away series with the Blue Devils.
“We get to play them tomorrow, so that’s a good thing,” Fountain said.
Down 4-2 heading into the seventh, Jackson County scored to pull within a run and then put Chase Dunlap, who represented the tying run, on third base with two outs. Fountain — who said his teams have always been aggressive on the base paths during his tenure at Jackson County — opted for the gamble.
“We steal home a few times a year and we’ve been successful at it,” Fountain said.
Jackson County led 2-0 until the fifth inning when Elbert County took advantage of walks to score a run. Then, the Blue Devils, aided by a Panther throwing error, added three more scores in the sixth to take a 4-2 lead.
Leading Jackson County offensively were Austin Robinson (hit, RBI), Trey Sorrells (hit), Jalen Banks (hit) and Nick Corso (hit).
Jackson County was able to knock Elbert County’s ace pitcher out of the game in the fourth inning.
“We felt good about some things we did,” Fountain said.
