Westfield baseball eliminated in GIAA play-in by Tiftarea Academy

PERRY — Brock Johnson hit a solo blast over the left-center wall, Madon Sanders put out several Panthers, but it was not enough as the Hornets fell 10-3 in the first game of the playoff doubleheader.

Westfield (13-16) scored early in the contest, however, the Hornets were not able to generate any momentum to consistently put the ball in play.

Tiftarea Academy (12-14) capitalized on situational baseball, mental errors by the Hornets’ defense, and kept Westfield from mounting an offensive attack.

An early score by the Hornets put them up 1-0, but the Panthers answered right back in the third inning with a two-RBI single by Dawson Butler to give Tiftarea a 3-1 lead that they would never relinquish.

Winston Lamb added another run at the top of the fourth, but the scoring barrage was just getting started for the Panthers. Robert Garner hit a sacrifice fly, driving a second Panthers player.

At this point, the mental errors for Westfield started to accumulate. In two straight bases loaded at-bats, the pitch got away from Russ Hiley and Tiftarea players crossed the plate, bringing the score to 7-1.

Reed Jackson slapped a two-RBI single to left field, adding two more runs to the scoreboard. Hiley struck out Jackson Gray to end the inning, but the damage was done.

Johnson blasted his solo shot to give the Hornets a glimpse of hope, but Grayson Waller and Matt Molina both grounded out to finish the inning.

Peyton Seymour subbed in for Sanders as a pinch-runner in the sixth inning, stealing both second base and home, adding one final run across the plate for Westfield.

After Gray laid down a sacrificial bunt for the Panthers to put runners in scoring position, Ridley Monk grounded out to Hiley, yet drove in the last run of the game.

Tiftarea 7, Westfield 0

Game two of the playoff doubleheader started off in similar fashion.

Garner hit an RBI single in the bottom of the first. Sanders threw out John Jackson attempting to steal third base to end the offensive threat in the first inning, but the game was all Tiftarea from there.

In the bottom of the fourth inning, Lamb and Jackson started the scoring spree for the Panthers with back-to-back RBI singles to left field. Butler added one more run to the tally, putting the Panthers up 5-0.

Situational baseball took over the fifth inning for the Panthers as Lamb slapped an RBI single to right field, putting runners on the corners. Jackson stepped up to the plate and hit a sacrifice fly deep to the outfield, driving in the final run of the 7-0 victory over Westfield.

The Hornets attempted to throw the Panthers off balance by switching out pitchers several times, however, adjustments were made at the plate and the Panthers continued to score. Luke Davidson, Reid Black, Will Canterbury, Sanders, and Waller all saw time on the mound in the second game.

Tensions flared at the top of the fourth inning when warnings were issued to the Westfield head coach and dugout over multiple officiating calls at the plate.

Westfield head coach Ryan Wetherington was disappointed with the outcome of both games, however, he spoke highly on his team’s performance over the season and what the future holds:
“We just never could get rolling offensively in either game. [Tiftarea] did a really good job with keeping us off balance, pitching around us, and putting some pressure on us defensively. There were a couple instances where a couple runs were scored and the ball never left the infield. We weren’t able to capitalize on certain situations offensively, and they did,” he said.

“It’s tough. I was hoping that we’d make a little bit of a deeper run than we did, but the good thing is we have some really good talent coming up the pipeline,” Wetherington added. “I’m excited about the foundation that our seniors were able to set forth for us moving forward, and hopefully we can build on what we’ve done this year. I told the team after the game that I had a different speech plan for today, but I’m proud of them. They worked hard this year and they’ve had a great season.”

UP NEXT

Westfield finishes out the season while Tiftarea Academy travels to Frederica Academy in the second round of the GIAA playoffs.