Vikings Over Eagles In 1st Round
The Treutlen County High School Vikings are moving on. After a commanding performance last week, the Vikings swept the Mt. Zion Eagles in a best-of-three series to advance to the second round of the GHSA State Baseball Playoffs.
Game 1
In the series opener, Gavin Bailey set the tone on the mound. He kept the Eagles completely off balance, allowing just three hits as the Vikings cruised to a 5-0 shutout victory. The offense gave Bailey early run support when Caden Parrish ripped a two-run double in the bottom of the first inning.
Acie Dickens gave Treutlen some breathing room in the third, launching a two-run homer to push the advantage to 4-0. The Vikings tacked on a final insurance run in the sixth inning to secure Game 1.
Game 2
Game 2 proved to be a back-and-forth affair early on before the Vikings' offense broke the game wide open. Parrish stayed hot, striking first with an RBI double in the top of the first inning. Mt. Zion managed to answer with a run in the bottom half, but a Jack Walker sacrifice fly in the second briefly put Treutlen back in front. The Eagles then rallied for two runs in the bottom of the second to take a 3-2 lead—their first and only of the series.
That deficit did not last long. Juddson Wilkes tied the game in the third with a solo shot to left field. Treutlen reclaimed the lead for good in the fourth behind an RBI double from Dickens and a Mt. Zion error, making it a 5-3 ballgame. From there, it was all Vikings. They plated three more runs in the fifth before exploding for a massive nine-run seventh inning. Dickens, Parrish, Wilkes, Gavin Wood, Peyton Miller, Walker, and Michael Boone all drove in runs during the late rally to cap off a decisive 17-3 rout.
With the first round in the books, Treutlen hits the road this week to face Lake Oconee Academy in the second round. The best-of-three series kicks off with a doubleheader on Wednesday. If a decisive third game is needed, it will be played Thursday. First pitch times are still to be announced.
