Wheeler Bulldogs Face Challenging Stretch
It was a difficult week on the diamond for the Wheeler County High School Bulldogs baseball team, who dropped three consecutive non-region matchups to fall to 4-9 on the season. The Bulldogs hosted Clinch County on Wednesday before hitting the road for games against Bacon County on Thursday and Tattnall County to close out the stretch. vs. Clinch Co.
The week opened with a tough home loss to the Clinch County Panthers. Clinch seized control immediately, putting up six runs in the top of the first inning and following it with an eight-run surge in the second.
The Bulldogs' defense settled down and managed to hold the Panthers scoreless over the next three frames. Unfortunately, the early deficit proved too steep, resulting in a 14-0 run-rule defeat in five innings. vs. Bacon Co.
Looking to bounce back on Thursday against the Raiders in Bacon County, the Bulldogs found themselves facing another early hole. Bacon County jumped out to a 7-0 lead in the bottom of the first.
Wheeler showed real fight in the top of the second, pushing four runs across the plate to cut the deficit to 7-4.
The Raiders responded quickly, though, with three runs in the bottom half of the inning. Bacon County added another run in the third and six in the fourth to pull away. Despite the Bulldogs continuing to battle and adding single runs in both the fourth and fifth innings, Bacon County ultimately secured a 17-6 victory. vs. Tattnall Co.
The Bulldogs found their rhythm in the final game of the week, delivering a hard-fought, backand- forth contest against the Tattnall County Warriors.
Wheeler struck first when Landyn Horne drove in a run in the top of the first inning. After Tattnall answered to tie it, Trent Butler came through in the second with a crucial bases-clearing RBI single, giving Wheeler a 4-1 advantage.
The Bulldogs added another run in the third to extend their lead to 5-1, but the Warriors steadily chipped away. Tattnall scored three runs in the bottom of the third and eventually took a 6-5 lead with a pair of runs in the fifth.
Tattnall added three insurance runs in the sixth inning to make it a 9-5 game. Wheeler refused to quit, mounting a late rally in the top of the seventh and pushing two runs across the plate. The comeback fell just short, however, ending in a 9-7 loss.
Despite the rough non-region stretch, the Bulldogs maintain a 3-4 standing in region play.
They returned to action this Monday against Treutlen County in a matchup that concluded after presstime. Wheeler will now have a full week to regroup and practice before traveling to Eastman next Monday to take on Dodge County.
