Win Streak Comes To An End

Jeff Davis High’s 14-game win streak came to an end last Friday in Vidalia as the Yellow Jackets fell 4-2 to the Indians, dropping JD’s record to 21-3.
Last Tuesday in Hazlehurst, the Jackets took a 2-1 win over Wayne County, which came into the game with a 17-3 record and a No. 4 playoff ranking in Class 4A (Jeff Davis is No. 2 in Class 1A, Div. 1) and
Wednesday Jeff Davis traveled to Cochran and took a 7-5 win over the Royals.
Tuesday’s game was a pitchers duel between a pair of Eli’s — Jeff Davis’ Eli Saunders and Wayne’s Eli Grantham. Saunders improved his record to 8-0 as he hurled a 3-hitter and Grantham held JD scoreless over four innings, giving up four hits. Wayne’s only run was unearned and their relief pitcher Cade Lynn gave up two runs on just one hit to take the loss.
With Jeff Davis trailing 1-0, Jude Worthington opened the bottom of the 5th with a walk and went to second on Malachi Smith’s sacrifice bunt. Saunders then walked to put runners at 1st and 2nd, and Treyton Webster followed with a single up the middle to score Worthington and push Saunders to 3rd. Saunders then came home on a wild pitch to put JD ahead 2-1.
Saunders then retired 6 of the last 7 batters he faced with the only batter reaching base doing so on an error.
For the game, Saunders walked one batter and struck out six.
Colby Beach’s two singles led the Jeff Davis offense. Webster had a single and an RBI, and Smith and Dylan Carelock both singled.
Wednesday in Cochran, the Jackets led 7-3 after 5 1/2 innings and the Royals made it closer in the bottom of the 6th with a pair of runs.
Webster drove in a run in the 1st inning, an unearned run and a Saunders’ run-scoring double gave Jeff Davis a 3-1 lead in the second, run scoring singles by Karter Galbreath and Worthington put the Jackets up 5-2, and a run-scoring wild pitch and Zach Hulett’s RBI sac fly upped the tally to 7-3.
Galbreath and Worthington both had 2 singles and an RBI, Carelock, Smith and Jonathan Bohannon each singled twice, Saunders had a double and an RBI, and Webster and Zack Hulett each drove in a run.
Hulett had the defensive play of the game, diving to his right to nab a hard-hit grounder at third, then scrambling to his feet to throw out the runner at first.
Bohannon started on the mound, going 4 innings and giving up 2 earned runs on 4 hits, walking 2 and fanning one. Hulett pitched 2 innings, giving up 2 runs on 2 hits, walking 2 and striking out 1, and Beach pitched the final inning, giving up one hit, walking none and striking out three.
Beach got the nod to start in Friday’s game, his first start since early in the season as he has been nursing a sore arm back to health. He went only 2 innings, giving up 2 runs on 3 hits, walking none and striking out 1. Webster pitched 2 innings, giving up an unearned run on 1 hit, walking 3 and striking out 2, and Seth Saunders threw 2 innings, giving up 1 run on 2 hits, walking 1 and fanning 2.
The Jackets out-hit the Indians 7-6 with Eli Saunders getting a double, Smith and Worthington both getting a single and an RBI, and Webster, Beach, Carelock and Galbreath each getting a single.
Score by innings:
WCHS 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 -1
JDHS 0 0 0 0 2 0 x -2

JDHS 1 2 2 0 2 0 0 -7
BCHS 1 1 1 0 0 2 0 -5

JDHS 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 -2
VHS 2 0 1 0 0 1 x -4