Slam, Bam, Thank You Ma’am
After a tough week of exciting (albeit heartbreaking) one-run losses in the second week of region play against the Social Circle Redskins, the Hurricanes welcomed Oglethorpe County to town to open up the final week of the GHSA regular season, and the final region series.
The losses to Social (2-1, 4-3, and 2-1) the week prior put the final week as a must win two of three series battling for the third seed in the playoffs.
Freshman Brelynd Beasley got the ball for game one, played Monday. An unconventional 1-2-3 inning in the top half of the first, highlighted by the cannon of catcher Chandler Aguirre on an attempted steal for the second out of the inning, brought the Hurricanes to the plate. After a ground out to lead off the inning for the Canes, back-to-back walks to Jaxson Cohran and Aguirre put runners on first and second, and after a strikeout put two outs on the board, Hunter Hays worked a four pitch walk to load the bases and bring up Beasley.
After taking the first pitch of the at-bat for a strike, Beasley stroked the next pitch to right, where it continued to rise, not coming down until it cleared the fence in right field for an opposite field grand slam. Not bad for his first varsity home run! Beasley worked around the adrenaline rush in the top of the second inning, allowing a one out single and walk before settling in and getting two quick outs to end the Patriot threat.
The Hurricanes added on another run in the bottom half of the second, when after a Hunter Sorrows walk, and Evan Diaz being hit by an Oglethorpe pitch, Aguirre again came up big, driving a hard ground ball back up the middle to score Sorrows and increase the Hurricane lead to 5-0.
The Patriots got two of the runs back in the third, taking advantage of some control issues to load the bases, and then scoring on a hit batter and ground out to cut the lead to 5-2. Monticello was able to get one back in the bottom half again, Hays reaching on an error and advancing to second on a line drive single by Beasley.
After two outs were made, Sorrows was able to work a walk, during which both runners advanced on a wild pitch. On the fourth pitch of the at-bat to Sorrows, which just happened to be ball four, another wild pitch allowed Hays to come in from third, and push the Hurricanes back up to a four run cushion with the score at 6-2.
After a couple of quiet innings, Oglethorpe was able to push across another run thanks to a couple of hits and a walk. The Hurricanes were able to turn a double play in the inning, but a clutch two-out single drove in a run to make it 6-3.
Monticello was able to again answer back in the bottom half of the inning, with Tom Schilling reaching with a line drive single to center, and with two outs in the inning, Diaz reached on an error, and Cohran popped a hot ground ball through the left side to drive in Schilling. This put the score at 7-3, Canes on top.
Hurricane bats came alive in the bottom of the sixth to put the game away. Control issues and timely hitting allowed them to push across five runs in the inning. Chevy Sands led off the inning with a walk, and after stealing second, scored on a line drive single by Hays. Back-to-back walks to Beasley and Ethan McMichael loaded the bases and brought up Schilling again. This time he hit a ground ball through the left side, driving in Hays.
After a strikeout, Diaz was able to drive a 1-2 pitch back up the middle, and drove in two more runs. This put the score at 11-3, and the Hurricanes weren’t done yet. Aguirre came up with another big hit, this time a double down the left field line. This drove in Schilling, and put the final margin at 12-3.
The Patriots are still winless in region play, and another win Wednesday in Lexington would wrap up the third seed for the Hurricanes.
The Hurricanes will celebrate Senior Night today, April 18 at home, honoring their four senior players, Hunter Hays, Chevy Sands, Tom Schilling, and Austin Young. It will be the final region game against Oglethorpe. On Friday the varsity squad will travel to Barnesville to close out the regular season in a matchup against Lamar County.