Cougars sweep Dougherty County

Published 5:59 pm Friday, April 13, 2018

CORDELE- The Crisp County High School baseball team completed a sweep over the Dougherty County Trojans this week, with a game in Albany on Tuesday afternoon and two in Cordele on Thursday. The three wins put the Cougars at 14-12 overall on the season, with a 6-3 record in region play at this point.

Game One

The Cougars took control of Tuesday’s game in Albany after scoring five runs in the top of the second inning. Consecutive hits from Collin Infante and Noah Walters gave Crisp County two base runners, and Conner Richmond was then hit by a pitch to load up the bases. Bailey Barfield came up next and delivered a two-run single to right field. Garet Hobbs subsequently hit a three-run home run to right field to make the score 5-0.

The Cougars picked up three more runs in the top of the third inning. Barfield picked up another RBI on a groundout that sent Walters home, and Billy Jones drove in the other two runs on an RBI single. The Cougars led 8-0 entering the bottom half of the third inning.

Crisp tacked on another two runs in the top of the fourth inning. Noah Walters hit a triple to knock in Jackson Napier, and Walters then scored on a wild pitch. The final Cougar run came in the top of the fifth inning when Jackson Napier grounded out to send Myles Napier home. The Cougars finished the game off in the bottom half for an 11-0 run-rule victory.

Barfield and Hobbs each finished the game with three RBIs. Will Lanneau picked up the win on the mound after pitching three innings, allowing just one hit and striking out four. Walters and Richmond both pitched a scoreless inning in relief, and each recorded two strikeouts.

Game Two

In the first game of Thursday’s double-header, the Cougars picked up seven runs in the bottom of the first inning. Will Lanneau knocked in the first two runs with an RBI single, and Jackson Napier sent the next run in with an RBI triple. After Napier scored the fourth run on a wild pitch, Noah Walters sent Collin Infante in to score with an RBI single. Garet Hobbs and Billy Jones each added to the lead with RBI hits to put the Cougars ahead 7-0 at the end of the first inning.

Dougherty County scored a run in the top of the second, but Crisp County piled on five more runs in the bottom half. Several errors by the Trojans allowed Napier, Barfield, Hobbs, Conner Richmond, and Toby Stripling to score. Crisp County led 13-1 going into the third inning.

Cole Lancaster drove in run number 14 for the Cougars on an RBI groundout that allowed Dallas Pheil to score. An error by Dougherty allowed the final two runs of the game to score, and the Cougars ended up with a 16-1 run-rule victory.

Hobbs, Barfield, Napier and Jones all scored two runs in the game. Hobbs led the Cougars with three RBIs in the game. Jordan Grinnell pitched three innings, allowing just one hit and one earned run, while striking out five Trojans to pick up the win.

Game Three

The Cougars finished off the Trojans in the final game of the series with another run-rule victory.

The Trojans briefly took the lead in the game after a sacrifice fly in the top of the first inning, but the Cougars quickly took control in the bottom half. The Cougars got two base runners on in the bottom of the first inning after Nick Greene reached base on a leadoff walk, and Billy Jones reached on an error. Another error by Dougherty on a fly ball off the bat of Myles Napier allowed Greene and Jones to score. Next, Will Lanneau sent Napier home with an RBI single, and Hudson Coleman delivered run number four with an RBI single that scored Garet Hobbs. Jackson Napier subsequently drove in three more runs with an RBI double to left. The Cougars led 7-1 entering the second inning.

Myles Napier scored on a wild pitch in the bottom of the second for the eighth Crisp County run of the game, and Coleman then drove in the ninth with an RBI single. The Cougars remained in control of the game with a 9-1 lead going into the third inning.

Myles Napier and Will Lanneau each had an RBI in the bottom of the third inning, several errors by the Trojans allowed five more runs to score. The Cougars defeated Dougherty by a final score of 16-1 for another run-rule shortened win.

Coleman was the game winner on the mound with two innings pitched, one hit and one run allowed, while also recording four strikeouts. Jackson Napier led the Cougars with five RBIs in the game. Coleman finished with four RBIs in the contest, and Myles Napier ended up with three.

Up next for the Cougars is a three game series with Worth County starting on Tuesday in Cordele with first pitch set for 5:30.