Eagles Drop 2 to Treutlen

It was a tough week on the diamond for the Montgomery County High School Eagles baseball team, who dropped a pair of region matchups to the Treutlen County Vikings. While the final results will go down as two losses in the record books, the series highlighted both the current hurdles and the undeniable fight of this Eagles squad, culminating in a Friday night pitcher’s duel that went right down to the wire.

Game 1

The series opened at home on Tuesday, and things initially looked to be a tight back-and-forth affair. After the Vikings managed to push a run across in the top of the first inning, the Eagles immediately responded.

Jackson Gooden stepped into the box and delivered a clutch RBI hit in the bottom of the frame, tying the game and bringing life to the home dugout. Unfortunately, that early spark would be the only offensive breakthrough for MCHS on the afternoon. Treutlen's bats found their rhythm shortly after, adding three runs in the second inning, another in the fourth, and two more in the sixth to pull away for a 7-1 victory.

Game 2

Friday’s rematch on the road in Soperton was a completely different story, turning into a tense, defensive battle from the very first pitch. MCHS starting pitcher Matthew Harvey delivered a brilliant performance on the mound, keeping the Vikings' hitters off balance all evening and surrendering just three hits.

The Eagles fought hard behind him, matching Treutlen out for out through five scoreless innings. The stalemate finally broke in the bottom of the sixth when the Vikings managed to scrape together the game's lone run, handing the Eagles a heartbreaking 1-0 defeat in a game where they did nearly everything right defensively.

MCHS is now 3-9 on the season, and they are 1-7 in Region play. MCHS hosted East Laurens on Monday (with results unavailable at presstime) and will hit the road again this Thursday, traveling to face Dodge County with first pitch scheduled for 5:45 p.m.