Perry Panthers beat Veterans to end Crossroads; Bears, Eagles tie after 7

Summer high school baseball in middle Georgia began this past week with the Perry Crossroads Invitational, and what better way to conclude things Saturday than with the Panthers taking on both a county and region rival in the defending 2-AAAA champion Veterans High Warhawks.

Perry scored five runs on five hits in the fifth inning against Warhawk relief pitching to come from behind and beat Veterans 5-4 in six.

Take away Veterans’ big first inning with three runs, and most of the game was a solid pitching dual between John Hartzog of the Panthers and Logan Arnett, the Veterans hurler who was not a part of David Coffey’s 2012 varsity roster.

Coffey in fact only had one returning starting bat in his lineup, and that belonged to infielder Mickey Dugan. In the top of the first, Dugan got the rally going with a base hit and two stolen bases. Dalton Gilliam singled him home with one out.

Ryan Mayfield and Andrew Ellison reached to fill the bases, and with two outs catcher Jacob Giles batted. His two-run single staked the Warhawks to the 3-0 advantage.

Hartzog, in five innings, struck out nine. He also hit the leadoff batters of both the second and third frames, but only in the third did that Warhawk score. Hartzog also only allowed two more hits after the first.

Arnett threw four no-hit, no-run innings with three walks allowed (no more than one in any inning) and four strikeouts.

But as Veterans changed pitchers, Perry went to work with three straight singles by Matt Davis, Hunter Knowles and Alex Heath. With an error on Heath’s single, the Panthers ended the shutout. Steven Heath made it four safeties in a row and cut the lead down to two, 4-2.

Perry had the bases loaded with no outs, scored one time on a second walk, and tied the game 4-4 during Veterans’ 4-3 double play. It was back to the top of Shawn Masters’ lineup and infielder Cal Gentry. He hit the ball back to the pitcher, who couldn’t make a play in time to prevent the go-ahead (and winning) RBI.

Drew Martens pitched the top of the sixth, giving up one hit to Mayfield but also watching a double play from his infield.

TIE GAME AT HC

Chris Harrelson of Northside and Jason Brett of Houston County High got a long look at the future while playing each other in the final game of the Crossroads Invitational Saturday at the Bear Den. Going the full seven innings, the respective rosters full of varsity hopefuls battled to a 6-6 tie. Houston County had to climb out of a big four-run hole established by the Eagles in the top of the first inning.

Northside had just two hits in the first, one being a two-run safety from Christian Harrison. There were two walks plus an error to plate one run and a passed ball for another. The Bears did not have a hit in countering with one in the bottom half, using instead two walks plus a wild pitch. The pitcher, Tanner Smith, made a good play off the mound on a slow roller to get the final out and keep the game 4-1.

Houston County, though, scratched one more across in the second using a free pass and stolen base. D.J. Green’s hit, the first by Houston County, put Northside’s advantage at two, 4-2.

The final five innings saw, if nothing else, a showcase of outstanding infield play. Houston had Tucker Gaylord at shortstop, Landon Druenberger at second base and Lawson Trawick at third base. Northside had the first two batters reach base in the top of the third, but Gaylord first made a force-out assist at third base then began an inning-ending 6-4-3.

The Bears took over the lead with a big three-run home third that only featured one hit. Walks put the home team on base again and again, forcing one home (4-3) before Blake Dawson looped a single for the tying RBI. With two outs, a hit batter pushed in the lead score.

In the Eagle half of the fourth, Harrison earned his second hit with two outs and no one on base. He scored the tying run, 5-5, on Jake Adams’ hit before Gaylord ended the turn with another highlight field-and-throw to first.

Baseballs hit on the nose and on a loop to shallow areas of the outfield ended up caught by both infields in the fifth inning.

Each team found one run in the sixth, the Eagles beginning with a double from Tyshon Frentress with one out. He was on third with two down, but Mark Walker made sure he would return home with a flare hit.

Trawick and Green registered consecutive hits to start Houston’s half, and Layton Sheets put down a bunt with no play. Northside’s infield executed a good 6-3 twin-killing, but with no previous outs the Bears had its answer.

The Bears had the only seventh-inning threat with two walks but could not bring in either.

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