Pike County’s baseball team had never advanced to the state semifinals before this season. Now, the Pirates can say they are going to the championship series after defeating Lovett 6-1 on Tuesday in the rubber game of a Class AA semifinal series.
“It’s unbelievable,” Pike County coach Don Hanson said. “It’s a sweet feeling getting to the finals.”
Pike County will travel to Buford for the state finals Saturday. Game 3 would be played Monday, if necessary.
The host Pirates used a complete-game three-hitter by pitcher Lance Shelton to stymie the Lions’ bats. Shelton struck out six and issued no walks.
“Lance was lights out,” Hanson said. “I’m glad we decided to put the ball in his hands. He was masterful.”
The Lions were undone by poor defense and weak offense in Games 1 and 3, both losses.
“Those were the two keys we talked about,” Lovett coach Lance Oubs said.
“We knew we couldn’t make errors, and we played well defensively in Game 2, but not in Games 1 and 3. We also talked about scoring runs. We did just enough in Game 2, but not in Games 1 and 3.”
In the fifth and sixth innings the Lions gave up a total of five runs, but only one was earned. Of the six runs scored by Pike County, two were earned.
The fifth inning was crucial for the Pirates, as they broke a 1-1 tie with two runs. Chad Kirksey and Brett Butler each scored during an inning in which Lovett pitcher Dylan Malinowski was struck on his body twice by Pirates hits.
Lovett tied the score at one in the third when Robbie Blair used a fielder’s choice to drive in Clayton Lau, who had doubled and advanced to third.
Provided by Score Atlanta
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