The Jones County High baseball team improved its record to 10-2 overall and, more importantly, 3-0 in sub-region 4B-AAAA play with a pair of very different wins over Westside and Stockbridge. This past Monday in Macon, the Greyhounds defeated the Seminoles 4-0 in an effort that has typified the play of coach Barry Veal’s team thus far this year.
Starting pitcher Joey Jones worked six-and-two-thirds innings of hitless baseball in a complete-game one-hitter in which he struck out a career-high 14 batters and walked four.
“Joey pitched a great ballgame,” Veal said. “And I think he was extra pumped because this is where he used to go to school.”
The ’Hounds offense was led by two, three, and four hitters, Cody Pinnell, Tyler Roberts, and Brendan Hampton.
Each had two hits and the latter two each drove in a run.
Designated hitter Adam Earwood also had a pair of hits and an RBI.
The visitors’ fourth run was scored courtesy of the Seminoles’ only error of the contest.
The main issue Veal had with his team in the winning effort was a problem that has plagued his team through all 12 games.
“We’re not doing a good job of getting in men when they’re in scoring position,” he said. “We made this game a lot closer than it should have been.”
The fourth inning was the only frame in which the ’Hounds did not strand a runner in scoring position.
Jones left the bases loaded in the first and seventh innings without plating a single run.
“We’re doing a good job getting on base and we’re doing a good job stealing bases, we’re just not doing a good job of driving those runners in,” the coach said.
The Greyhounds’ other win of the week was the team’s first scare in sub-region play, as they earned a 7-6 comeback victory at Stockbridge High March 28.
Down 6-2 in the top of the fourth, the ’Hounds rallied to score five runs in the sixth inning and pick up the victory for Wilson Taylor.
Taylor pitched five scoreless innings of relief after ace Brad McCain allowed six runs, two earned, in only two innings of work before being hit by a batted ball.
“Brad didn’t have his best stuff, and he got hit in the ankle by a line drive, but it was good to see us battle back,” Veal said.
Jones scored its first two runs on a second-inning sacrifice fly by Josh Perdue and a home run by Trey Whitehead in the top of the third.
Stockbridge scored all of its runs in those same two frames.
The Tigers took advantage of two hit batsmen, a walk, and an error to pick up a pair of runs in the bottom of the second.
In the bottom of the third, a walk, a hit batsman, a couple of errors, and three hits led to four more runs and a game-high four-run advantage for the home team.
After two and a half scoreless innings, a couple of walks and a couple of errors by the Stockbridge third baseman paved the way for Jones and Hampton to score on a Perdue single in the sixth, as the Greyhounds cut the Tigers’ lead to 6-4.
But after the fifth batter of the inning, Ryan Brickle, reached to load the bases with still no outs, Veal feared his team would fall into its habit of leaving runners stranded.
“We had the bases loaded and nobody out, and I thought here we go again. We got out one and out two, and then Cody Pinnell came up big for us and had a three-run double,” Veal said.
Pinnell’s two-base hit would be the game winner, as Taylor allowed just one hit in the final two innings, striking out five of the seven batters he faced.
“Wilson came in and was lights out,” Veal said of the pitcher of record, who allowed no runs and only two hits, while striking out five.
“He pitched like a number-one pitcher.”
Pinnell led the offense, going 2-for-4 with the three RBIs and a stolen base.
Perdue also had a pair of hits and three runs batted in.
“We got the win, and it was a region win, but we got to be able to score some more runs,” Veal said.
The Greyhounds began a set of three games in three days this week, as they hosted Upson-Lee Wednesday, as the team begins a stretch of five games, four of which are sub-region contests, in eight days from April 4-11.
“We obviously want to win those sub-region games, but it’s also a great opportunity for us to work on trying to score some of those runs,” Veal said.
