Mt. Paran eliminates Jackets

Jeff Davis High School’s baseball team will have to wait until next season to hand Head Coach Paul Glass his 500th career victory as the Yellow Jackets lost a double header to Mount Paran Christian School 2-0, 2-0 Saturday in Hazlehurst. The losses eliminated the Jackets from the 3023 state playoffs, ending their 2023 season with a 27-8 record. Mount Paran improved to 30-4.

Glass went into Saturday’s games with 498 career wins.

Mount Paran advances to the semifinals and faces Fellowship Christian School in the next round. North Cobb Christian School defeated Cook High School Saturday 4-2, 5-3 to advance to the semifinals. Appling County and Redan split their two Saturday games and played Monday in Redan for the other semifinal spot.

In the opening game Saturday, Jeff Davis junior Duke Stone and Mount Paran’s Tate McKee both pitched 4-hitters. Stone, a Georgia commit, gave up one earned run, walked one and struck out 16. McKee, a senior Georgia Tech commit, walked one and struck out 12.

All four of the Yellow Jackets’ hits were singles while Mount Paran had a single and a seventh inning home run.

Stone had 99 pitches and McKee 107.

In the second game, Jeff Davis junior Alex Mason and Mount Paran’s Luke Dotson both pitched 2-hitters. Mason, a Georgia Southern commit, walked two and struck out nine while Dotson, who has committed to Mississippi State, walked one and struck out 12. Both Yellow Jacket hits were singles and the Eagles had a single and a triple by Dotson.

Mason threw only 87 pitches while Dotson threw 103.

The Eagles did not commit an error during the two games while the Yellow Jacket defense had three miscues.

The first game entered the top of the 6th in a scoreless tie, when McKee stepped to the plate with one out and hit a hard ground ball to right for a single and an error gave him two more bases to third. The next batter bunted McKee in with an unearned run to give the Eagles a 1-0 lead.

A lead-off, first-pitch homer in the top of the 7th gave Mount Paran a 2-0 lead.

In the Jackets’ last at bat of the game, Stone and Treyton Webster both singled to put runners at 2nd and 3rd with two outs. But McKee struck the next batter on three pitches to end the game.

In the 3rd, JD’s Jude Worthington and Ethan Picanso both singled to put runners on 1st and 3rd with two outs but McKee struck out the next batter.

Picanso, Stone, Webster and Worthington got the Jackets’ four singles.

In the second game, Dotson led off for the Eagles and tripled to right. McKee then grounded out to short to drive in Dotson and put Mount Paran up 1-0.

The Eagles got their second run in the second. With two outs and a runner at second, Dotson worked a 3-0 count and Glass called for an intentional walk to put on a ground out at any base. But McKee then hit a run-scoring single to right to drive in the second run.

The Yellow Jackets never mounted a scoring threat in the game. Webster and Picanso got the Jackets’ two hits, both singles.

Score by innings:

MPCS 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 -2

JDHS 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 -0

JDHS 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 -0

MPCS 1 1 0 0 0 0 x -2