Canes Compete at Braves’ Home, Conclude 2018 Season Tuesday

“The dugouts, scoreboard, playing surface, bullpens, you name it—all gave you that Christmas morning feel,” said Hurricane Head Coach Chris Jenkins of his and the team’s elation of playing at SunTrust Stadium last Thursday.

“It was almost disappointing that the game was well played, because it shortened the amount of time we were able to spend there.,” he continued.

“We’ve put a lot of time and effort into fundraising over the years, and this was worth every bit of it.”

“With the exception of playing for the State Championship last Fall (with the Lady Hurricanes), seeing how much the boys’ enjoyed themselves was definitely the highlight of my coaching career.”

Though the squad loss playing Lamar County at the major league stadium, it was only by a one-run margin. Two hits and two scores in the second inning gave the Canes the lead until Lamar came up with two runs in the sixth inning and their winning run in top of the seventh.

Braden Lynch and Matt Cain split time on the mound. Tyler Wages had one run batted in (RBI).

In what would be their final game of the current season, the Canes earned a big 8-2 victory over region opponent Oglethorpe County Tuesday. Three runs in the second inning followed up by two runs each in the third and fourth, and the final run in the sixth were enough to take the Canes out on a winning mark. The 10 hit game with only one error is how the varsity squad will close its 2018 season with a record of 5-8.

Baylor Edge and Cain split time on the mound. Lynch and Wages each had two hits and three quality at bats (QABs). Mac Barton had one RBI.

Oglethorpe (4-6) will finish its season just above Monticello in the 8AA region standings behind leaders Social Circle (7-3), Rabun (7-3), Elbert (7-3) and Banks (6-4) who will all advance to the region playoffs.

The Canes shut out Putnam, who came up last in the region standings at 0-10, with a 11-0 win last Tuesday on the road.

Last Wednesday, the squad played a doubleheader on the road in McDonough. Against Ola High School, the squad fell 7-3 but rebounded with a big 15-6 win over Luella High School.

Coach Jenkins is looking forward to next Spring as the squad will look to build upon the lessons learned from this season.