Pitching dominance drove Commerce High School to sweep Washington-Wilkes in the preliminary playoff baseball series at Tiger Field on Monday.
The Tigers won 5-1 and 12-0 with Colton Davis and Robert Hayes each contributing complete games from the mound.
The wins advance Commerce (21-6) to the first-round of the Class A state playoffs on Friday. The team will play Eagle’s Landing Christian Academy (20-5) in McDonough at 4 p.m. and 7 p.m.. The third game, if necessary, will be played on Saturday.
“We did a great job battling the heat even though I thought we were a little tentative in the first game before we settled down and just relaxed,” Commerce coach Steve Cotrell said. “But when you get pitching performances from Colton and Robert it gives you confidence. Robert threw a no-hitter and had a perfect game with one out to go before he walked back-to- back batters.”
Davis struck out 10 batters and threw a complete game in the first win over Washington-Wilkes.
Providing support on offense were Keenan Lord (2-for-2), Chandler Rogers (3-3), Cody Streetman (2-4, with two RBIs) and Hayes (2-3).
Some of the same batters added to their stats during the second game, which ended after five innings because of the run-rule.
Rogers went 1-1, with a double and two RBIs and Streetman added two hits, including a three-run home run. He ended the game with four RBIs.
“We are just going to keep working and keep getting better and hopefully we can keep prolonging the season,” Cotrell said. “Eagles Landing Christian (Coach) Doug Campbell will have his kids ready to play. The last time these seniors met up with ELCA we had an 11 inning game. So I think our seniors will be fired up to go, too.”
