Defending Class AAA champion Blessed Trinity has won nine straight games to run its record to 11-2 overall, 7-0 in Region 4-AAA. Cody Roberts, a North Carolina signee, is hitting .529 (18-for-34) with four home runs. Senior Will Galloway (.487) also has four homers. Blessed Trinity has employed nine pitchers, none better than Brad Spinner (3-1, 0.35 ERA). Junior Jackson Svete (12 innings, 13 strikeouts) and sophomore Cole McNamee (9.2 innings, 19 strikeouts) haven’t allowed an earned run. Both are 3-0.
-Rutland pitcher Codie Rozier has struck out 60 of the 96 batters he’s faced this season. Rozier is 4-0 with an 0.26 ERA over 27 innings. He has struck out 10 in a game four times, each one in games shortened to five innings. Rozier is also hitting .422 (19-for-45). Rutland (11-5 overall, 9-0 in Region 2-AAA) is led in hitting by third baseman William Scruggs (.565, seven doubles) and first baseman Malik Bond (.477).
-Archer pitcher Sean Fitzpatrick has now allowed a run this season over 22 2/3 innings. He’s struck out 35 and allowed only three hits. His next scheduled start is Monday against South Gwinnett. Fitzpatrick has signed with Indian River State College in Florida. Other outstanding Archer player is senior Curtis Terry. He is batting .514 (18-for-35) with five home runs. Archer is 12-3 overall, 5-0 in Region 8-AAAAAA, heading into a game against Parkview on Friday.
-Montgomery County pitcher Jacob Manning has been the epitome of the tough-luck loser this season, laboring for a team that is 1-13. Against Claxton (8-2) this week, he went 9 2/3 innings and struck out 15, but his team lost 2-1 in 10 innings. Both runs allowed were unearned. For the season, Manning is 0-2 but with a 2.16 ERA and 31 strikeouts in 22.2 innings. He’s allowed only 18 hits and six walks.
-Benedictine, the defending Class AA champion, has won seven straight games and is 11-4 overall, 5-0 in Region 2-AA. Al Preston (4-1, 0.88 ERA) has been the staff ace. Junior Chipper Wiley, who was the Savannah Morning News player of the year as a sophomore, remains the team’s best two-way threat. He’s batting .429 with six extra-base hits, and he’s 2-1 with a 2.47 ERA as a pitcher. Benedictine also gets a lot of help from all-state football players Brad Stewart (.355, 2 HR, Georgia Tech signee at wide receiver) and Stevie Powers (2-0, 1.00), the quarterback. Junior Ryan Woiwode (.429) leads the team in hits with 18.
-Bailey Combs of Whitefield Academy pitched a five-inning no-hitter and also hit a home run in a 10-0 victory over Trion this week. He struck out eight. In his next game, he hit two home runs and a double and went 3-for-3 in a 15-0 victory over South Cobb. Combs has six home runs on the season.
-Another player with six home runs is shortstop Darius Sewell of Lakeside-DeKalb. Sewell (.432) hit two against Newton in a 7-2 victory earlier this month and went 3-for-4 with five RBI and a home run in a 10-5 victory over Alcovy on Wednesday. Lakeside is 11-3 overall, 4-1 in Region 2-AAAAAA.
-Loganville senior Lucas Cloud, signed with Gordon State, is 5-0 with two saves. He has thrown 19.1 innings and given up one run on four hits and four walks. He has 21 strikeouts and wins over Johns Creek, Grayson, Winder-Barrow, Flowery Branch and Heritage-Conyers.
-Oglethorpe County senior Evan Meyer is 4-1 with a 0.70 ERA in his five starts. Meyer’s only came against Union County and its ace pitcher Joseph Mancuso when Meyer allowed four unearned runs in a 4-1 game. Meyer is committed to Young Harris. Oglethorpe County is 7-6 overall, 4-3 in Region 8-AA.
-Central Gwinnett sophomore Anthony Lopez is 5-for-10 with two doubles over the past four games. Central is a running team. Senior outfielder Sean Murray and junior second baseman Lincoln roe each have 10 stolen bases. Sophomore pitcher Neil Raja has thrown one-hitters against Mount Vernon Presbyterian and Meadowcreek (lost no-hitter in the seventh inning). He has 24 strikeouts, which is fourth in Region 8-AAAAAA.
-Hebron Christian, a Class A private-school semifinalist last year, is only 5-7 this season, but four of the losses are by one run, and another came this week in nine innings against Class A power Eagle’s Landing Christian. Hebron failed to hold a 3-1 lead in the seventh and lost 6-4. Ben Coker, a junior who has been in the rotation since he was a freshman, is 1-0 with a 1.11 ERA. He’s struck out 18 in 19 innings. Senior Matthew Cartmell, who threw only 19 innings last season, has moved in to the No. 1-starter role. Opposing batters are hitting only .153 against him. Parker Runnels (.350) and Tyler Calvert (.324) have 12 of the team’s 22 extra-base hits.
-Rabun County senior Stetson Scott has not allowed a run in his past two starts and struck out 13 in a 2-1 victory over Riverside Military. Scott is 5-1 with a 1.53 ERA and 34 strikeouts in 32 innings. The team’s leading hitter is Alden Wright (.571). He has 17 RBI, three doubles, two triples and a home run in 35 at-bats. He’s also 3-0 on the mound with 21 strikeouts in 12 innings. Rabun has won five straight to move to 9-2.
-Pope right-handed pitcher Braden Zarbnisky had his streak of 21 scoreless innings ended Monday by Lassiter, which pushed across a run in the first inning. But Pope scored seven runs in the bottom half and won 10-4.
-Andrew Sauer of Wesleyan pitched a no-hitter this week in an 8-0 victory over Pace Academy.
-Nick Marquez of Brookwod threw a no-hitter this week in an 8-0 over Dacula.
Coaches or statisticians who have teams or players that are newsworthy are encouraged to send information to ghsfdaily@bellsouth.net
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