Bulldogs Defeat Oglethorpe

The Toombs County High School Bulldogs baseball team are moving on to the second round of the GHSA State AA Playoffs after winning two of three games against the Patriots of Oglethorpe County last week on the road. Toombs was the #3 seed coming out of Region 2 and Oglethorpe was the #2 seed out of Region 4. They played a double header on Thursday and then the “if ” game on Friday.

Game 1

The Bulldogs dropped the first game of the series by just one run to the Patriots. The Patriots got the bats going early as they scored two runs in the bottom of the first inning, including one on a ground rule double that bounced over the outfield fence. Oglethorpe picked up another run in the third inning as they took a 3-0 lead over Toombs. TCHS got on the board in the top of the fourth inning as Kodie Cortez drove one in with a sacrifice fly to make it 3-1. Toombs jumped into the lead in the top of the fifth inning. Bryson Stanley picked up a hit and then came in to score on an RBI double by Tray Harris. Brantley Upshaw followed that with an RBI single to tie the game at 3-3. Then Wil Watts drove in Upshaw with a double to put Toombs on top 4-3. Jason Dukes followed that with a hit and Cortez came through with a 2 RBI double to give the Bulldogs a 6-3 lead.

Oglethorpe answered with two runs in the bottom of the fifth to close the TCHS lead to 6-5. The Patriots added two more runs in the bottom of the sixth inning to jump back on top, 7-6. They held in the top of the seventh to take the win by that score.

Game 2

The Bulldogs had to get a win in Game 2 or their season would come to an end, and they did just that. Upshaw went the distance on the mound for Toombs allowing just five hits as Toombs picked up a onerun victory to extend the series. Neither team could get much going over the first three innings of the game, but in the bottom of the fourth the Bulldogs, who were the home team in Game 2, broke the 0-0 tie. Watts got a hit and Dukes walked to put two runners on for TCHS. Cortez picked up an RBI single to put Toombs up 1-0, and Dukes scored on a sacrifice fly by Logan Knight. That gave TCHS a 2-0 lead heading to the fifth inning. In the top of the fifth the Patriots picked up a run to close the lead to 2-1, but Upshaw and the TCHS defense held on over the next two innings to secure the win, 2-1.

Game 3

That forced a Game 3, which was held on Friday. Oglethorpe got on the board first with a run in the bottom of the first inning. Toombs answered with a big second inning where they plated five runs to jump ahead, 5-1.

Oglethorpe added three more runs in the bottom of the second inning to make it 5-4. In the top of the third inning, Toombs added a run on an Upshaw sacrifice fly for a 6-4 lead. Harris then drove in Knight on an RBI triple for a 7-4 lead. The Patriots plated one run in the botttom of the fourth inning to make it 7-5. Neither team scored in the fifth or sixth inning, but in the top of the seventh the Bulldogs added a couple of insurance runs.

Stanley drove in a run with a ground rule double, and then Brantley came through with an RBI single for a 9-5 lead. TCHS held on in the bottom of the seventh inning to win the game 9-5 over Oglethorpe, and to win the series 2-1. The win moves the Bulldogs into the second round where they will face off with Pace Academy. Pace comes into the game with a 25-4 record and are the #1 seed out of Region 6. They will play a double header on Wednesday starting at 5:00 p.m. in Atlanta. If necessary, they will play a Game 3 on Thursday in Atlanta at 5:00 p.m.