Baseball team wins 2 of 3 over Brantley

Jeff Davis High’s baseball team won 2 of 3 games against Brantley County last week to secure the No. 4 seed from Region 1A, Div. 1 for the Georgia High School Association state tournament.
The Jackets finished the regular season with a 13-17 record and play Putnam County in the first round of the playoffs this Friday in Eatonton.
In last week’s play, the Jackets won their home games Tuesday and Friday, 8-7 and 5-2, and lost Thursday’s game in Nahunta, 6-3.
In Tuesday’s opener, Jeff Davis led 5-1 after 2 innings, but the Herons put 5 runs on the board in the 3rd to take a 6-5 lead. The Jackets worked their way to an 8-6 lead after 4 innings and held on for the 8-7 win.
In the 1st inning, Tye Rea got his first homer of the season, a 2-run blast after Treytop Webster singled. With 2 outs, Josh Worthington was hit by a pitch, went to 2nd on a wild pitch and scored as Jacob Laney reached 1st on an error.
In the bottom of the 2nd, Webster got his 2nd home run of the season, a 2-run shot after Brayden Picanso reached on a walk to lift the Jackets to a 5-1 lead.
But things went sour in the 3rd as Brantley used an error, 2 walks, a single and a 3-run homer to go in front 6-5.
The Jackets quickly tied the game with a Karter Galbreath RBI single in the bottom of the inning, then took the lead for good in the 4th on a Webster double, a Zack Hulett single and a 2-run single by Jeremiah Davis.
Webster led the offense with a single, a double, a homer and 2 RBI. Rea had a 2-run homer, Galbreath and Davis both had a single and an RBI, and Laney and Zack Hulett singled.
Seth Saunders was the winning pitcher in relief. He pitched 3 no-hit innings, giving up an unearned run and walking 2. Peyton Jones started on the mound and went 3 innings, giving up one earned run on 4 hits, 3 walks and 3 strikeouts. Zack Hulett pitched the final inning, giving up no runs and no hits, walking one and striking out one.
In Thursday’s game in Nahunta, both teams had 9 hits but the Herons made the most of their hits for a 6-3 win. Worthington and Laney got back-to-back singles in the 2nd innings and Worthington scored on Andrew Hulett’s ground out.
That was all the scoring the Jackets could muster until the 7th when Galbreath and Webster singled, and Webster scored as Rea reached base on an error.
Davis had 2 singles, Zack Hulett doubled, Andrew Hulett had a single and an RBI, and Webster, Rea, Worthingon, Laney and Galbreath each singled.
Saunders started and took the loss. He went 3 innings, giving up 2 earned runs on 3 hits, no walks and 2 strikeouts. Laney, Galbreath and Brady Stevers each pitched an inning. Laney gave up one run on 2 hits and a walk, Galbreath gave up one run on 3 hits and a strikeout, and Stevers gave up one run on no hits, 2 walks and a strikeout.
In Friday’s finale, Zack Hulett continued his strong pitching streak, throwing a complete game 3-hitter and giving up only one earned run, that coming in the 1st inning when he gave up 2 of the 3 hits the Herons got off the junior right-hander. The other run was unearned, coming in the 3rd when the Herons sandwiched a pair of walks around Brantley’s only other hit, followed by a 2-out error.
For the remainder of the game, Hulett retired 10 of the next 12 batters, striking out 6 and walking 2.
In the bottom of the 2nd, the Jackets tied the game with a Worthington single, a Laney walk and an Andrew Hulett single. Picanso also singled in the inning, putting JD up 2-1.
The Jackets got 2 more runs in the 4th as Andrew Hulett reached on an error, and Galbreath and Picanso singled. After a walk loaded the bases, Rea walked to make it 4-2.
Worthington and Andrew Hulett singled in the 5th to add another run to account for the final, 5-2 score.
Picanso and Andrew Hulett both had 2 singles and an RBI, Worthington singled twice, Zack Hulett and Galbreath singled, and Rea collected an RBI.
Hulett fanned 9 in his 7-inning stint
Score by innings:
BCHS 0 1 5 0 0 1 0 -7
JDHS 3 2 1 2 0 0 x -8

JDHS 0 1 0 0 0 0 2 -3
BCHS 1 0 1 2 1 1 x -6

BCHS 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 -2
JDHS 0 2 0 2 1 0 x -5