Raiders wrap up season with playoff loss to Heritage
Madison County wrapped up its 2012 baseball season Saturday versus Heritage, dropping the third game of a best of three series in the first round of the Region 8-AAAA playoffs.
“It (the season) kind of finished like it started, a lot of ups and downs,” said Red Raider head coach Charlie Griffeth, whose squad finished the season at 11-15.
Madison County jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the series Thursday at Heritage, downing the Patriots 6-0 in the first game of a doubleheader.
Brock Turner picked up the win, allowing two hits and a walk in seven innings, while fanning 11. Turner finished the season at 5-5 with 94 strikeouts in 55.7 innings. He set a school single-season record with a 0.63 ERA.
Madison County, which tallied four hits in the game, scored all six of its runs in the fourth inning. Logan Pace drove in the game-winning runs on a two-run double. Zeke Smallwood then drove in a run on a squeeze play. Hayden Frey and Daniel Townsend both followed with RBI singles. And Daniel Brooks drove in the final run on a sacrifice fly.
The second game of the double-header was a shutout in the other direction, as the Patriots bounced back with a 10-0 win in five innings, scoring two in the first and second innings, adding a run in the third and five in the fourth.
Townsend, Brooks, Smallwood and Turner had the Red Raiders’ four hits. Alex Jordan took the loss on the mound, pitching three and one-third innings, while Austin Dean pitched an inning and two-thirds in relief.
Mother Nature tried to bail out the Red Raiders on Friday night’s game three of the opening round of the Region 8-AAAA playoff.
With Madison County trailing 4-0 to Heritage in the bottom of the third inning, the skies opened up and rain fell causing a delay for nearly 45 minutes. Play was unable to resume due to the wet conditions and storms canceling the action before it became an official game.
The game was pushed back to Saturday and seemed to be a plus for the Raiders, giving them new life and wiping out Friday night’s action. In the early going, momentum was on the Raiders’ side as Madison County jumped out to a 1-0 lead on Saturday. Seven errors on defense however did more damage than the storms from the night before as Heritage defeated Madison County 8-1 in the final deciding game of the region playoff. Before the rains halted play on Friday night, the Raiders committed five errors in just two innings.
The storms gave Madison County the edge on the mound as game-one winner Turner got the start on Saturday. Turner had a strong outing but received little help on defense. His own first inning error set the stage for a three-run first inning for Heritage. The Patriots’ leadoff batter dribbled a slow roller up the first base line. On the play, Turner attempted to pick up the ball and tag the runner but instead had the ball knocked out of his glove. Two batters later, Turner issued a walk and allowed another runner to reach on a bunt single. Both runners scored later in the inning on a double by Ryan Gaskew.
Madison County pushed across its only run of the game in the top of the first inning. Daniel Townsend was hit by a pitch, moved to second with a stolen base and took third on a passed ball. Townsend ended up scoring on an errant throw to the plate on a fly ball out by Daniel Brooks.
Turner later settled down on the mound for the Raiders and ended up striking out six batters in his three innings of work. Turner allowed two hits and was charged with four runs. Heritage got a combined 11 strikeouts from their two hurlers in the contest.
The Patriots added to their lead with a run in the third inning. Two Raider errors in the inning did the damage as Heritage extended the lead to 4-1. Turner worked his way out of trouble by striking out the final batter of the inning stranding two runners in scoring position. That was Turner’s final high school appearance on the hill for Madison County as Lee Griffeth would enter to work the final three innings. Griffeth finished the day, allowing two hits, two walks and four runs while striking out two batters.
The Raiders staged a threat in the top of the fifth inning after Brock Turner drew a walk and Zeke Smallwood delivered the Raiders’ first hit of the game. Heritage made a pitching change and reliever Joe Salvador came in and put the fire out by retiring three straight hitters leaving both Turner and Smallwood stranded. The Raiders posted a final threat in the sixth inning. Bo Hardman singled to right field with two outs before being lifted for pinch runner Elijah Fleming. Fleming advanced to third on a double by Logan Pace but both runners were left hanging when the inning ended.
Four errors in the sixth inning put the lights out on the Raiders as Heritage took advantage of the miscues and added a final four runs to close out the scoring.
Zeke Smallwood, Logan Pace, and Bo Hardman accounted for the Raiders’ three hits with one each.
Though his team was eliminated in the first round of the region tournament, Griffeth said the 2012 had some bright spots.
“We played and beat Duluth, a final 16 team in 5A,” said Griffeth, referring to Madison County’s 4-0 win on March 10. “In the Habersham and Apalachee series, the team showed a lot of fight and heart and found ways to win.”
The coach praised the hitting of Daniel Brooks, who led the team with a .426 batting average on the year, going 29 of 68. He had an on-base percentage of .533.
“He had a great year at the plate,” said Griffeth.
The coach said Turner’s ERA record was impressive. He also praised the play of Zeke Smallwood, who stepped up from JV duties to become a productive varsity player, batting .323 on the year.
“He wasn’t a guy in the picture to start the year,” said Griffeth.
The coach said Daniel Townsend showed a lot of toughness in 2012.
“He hurt his arm and played through it,” said Griffeth, adding that battling through the pain every day showed some heart.
Madison County will lose five seniors off the 2012 roster: Josh Dalton, Daniel Townsend, Alex Jordan, Ethan Smith and Caleb McCain.
“Our work is going to be cut out for us,” said Griffeth of 2013. “Our players have to commit to getting faster and stronger.”
Madison County jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the series Thursday at Heritage, downing the Patriots 6-0 in the first game of a doubleheader.
Brock Turner picked up the win, allowing two hits and a walk in seven innings, while fanning 11. Turner finished the season at 5-5 with 94 strikeouts in 55.7 innings. He set a school single-season record with a 0.63 ERA.
Madison County, which tallied four hits in the game, scored all six of its runs in the fourth inning. Logan Pace drove in the game-winning runs on a two-run double. Zeke Smallwood then drove in a run on a squeeze play. Hayden Frey and Daniel Townsend both followed with RBI singles. And Daniel Brooks drove in the final run on a sacrifice fly.
The second game of the double-header was a shutout in the other direction, as the Patriots bounced back with a 10-0 win in five innings, scoring two in the first and second innings, adding a run in the third and five in the fourth.
Townsend, Brooks, Smallwood and Turner had the Red Raiders’ four hits. Alex Jordan took the loss on the mound, pitching three and one-third innings, while Austin Dean pitched an inning and two-thirds in relief.
Mother Nature tried to bail out the Red Raiders on Friday night’s game three of the opening round of the Region 8-AAAA playoff.
With Madison County trailing 4-0 to Heritage in the bottom of the third inning, the skies opened up and rain fell causing a delay for nearly 45 minutes. Play was unable to resume due to the wet conditions and storms canceling the action before it became an official game.
The game was pushed back to Saturday and seemed to be a plus for the Raiders, giving them new life and wiping out Friday night’s action. In the early going, momentum was on the Raiders’ side as Madison County jumped out to a 1-0 lead on Saturday. Seven errors on defense however did more damage than the storms from the night before as Heritage defeated Madison County 8-1 in the final deciding game of the region playoff. Before the rains halted play on Friday night, the Raiders committed five errors in just two innings.
The storms gave Madison County the edge on the mound as game-one winner Turner got the start on Saturday. Turner had a strong outing but received little help on defense. His own first inning error set the stage for a three-run first inning for Heritage. The Patriots’ leadoff batter dribbled a slow roller up the first base line. On the play, Turner attempted to pick up the ball and tag the runner but instead had the ball knocked out of his glove. Two batters later, Turner issued a walk and allowed another runner to reach on a bunt single. Both runners scored later in the inning on a double by Ryan Gaskew.
Madison County pushed across its only run of the game in the top of the first inning. Daniel Townsend was hit by a pitch, moved to second with a stolen base and took third on a passed ball. Townsend ended up scoring on an errant throw to the plate on a fly ball out by Daniel Brooks.
Turner later settled down on the mound for the Raiders and ended up striking out six batters in his three innings of work. Turner allowed two hits and was charged with four runs. Heritage got a combined 11 strikeouts from their two hurlers in the contest.
The Patriots added to their lead with a run in the third inning. Two Raider errors in the inning did the damage as Heritage extended the lead to 4-1. Turner worked his way out of trouble by striking out the final batter of the inning stranding two runners in scoring position. That was Turner’s final high school appearance on the hill for Madison County as Lee Griffeth would enter to work the final three innings. Griffeth finished the day, allowing two hits, two walks and four runs while striking out two batters.
The Raiders staged a threat in the top of the fifth inning after Brock Turner drew a walk and Zeke Smallwood delivered the Raiders’ first hit of the game. Heritage made a pitching change and reliever Joe Salvador came in and put the fire out by retiring three straight hitters leaving both Turner and Smallwood stranded. The Raiders posted a final threat in the sixth inning. Bo Hardman singled to right field with two outs before being lifted for pinch runner Elijah Fleming. Fleming advanced to third on a double by Logan Pace but both runners were left hanging when the inning ended.
Four errors in the sixth inning put the lights out on the Raiders as Heritage took advantage of the miscues and added a final four runs to close out the scoring.
Zeke Smallwood, Logan Pace, and Bo Hardman accounted for the Raiders’ three hits with one each.
Though his team was eliminated in the first round of the region tournament, Griffeth said the 2012 had some bright spots.
“We played and beat Duluth, a final 16 team in 5A,” said Griffeth, referring to Madison County’s 4-0 win on March 10. “In the Habersham and Apalachee series, the team showed a lot of fight and heart and found ways to win.”
The coach praised the hitting of Daniel Brooks, who led the team with a .426 batting average on the year, going 29 of 68. He had an on-base percentage of .533.
“He had a great year at the plate,” said Griffeth.
The coach said Turner’s ERA record was impressive. He also praised the play of Zeke Smallwood, who stepped up from JV duties to become a productive varsity player, batting .323 on the year.
“He wasn’t a guy in the picture to start the year,” said Griffeth.
The coach said Daniel Townsend showed a lot of toughness in 2012.
“He hurt his arm and played through it,” said Griffeth, adding that battling through the pain every day showed some heart.
Madison County will lose five seniors off the 2012 roster: Josh Dalton, Daniel Townsend, Alex Jordan, Ethan Smith and Caleb McCain.
“Our work is going to be cut out for us,” said Griffeth of 2013. “Our players have to commit to getting faster and stronger.”
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