The Starr’s Mill Panthers are just three wins away from claiming the Georgia High School Association baseball AAAAA championship, but Whitewater’s magical season ended Monday night.
The Panthers won 12-0 and were defeated 9-7 in two lopsided games of a double header split against Pope High School.
Whitewater on the other hand, fell to Greenbrier in two close games at home Monday night.
The Wildcats lost the first game 5-4 in extra innings and fell 6-3 in the second game.
Whitewater had a shot to win the first game in the ninth with the bases loaded, but the runner took off from third and got caught in a rundown before the payoff pitch could be delivered, extinguishing the threat.
In the next inning, Greenbrier laced home the winning run with a single and the Wildcats couldn’t answer in the home half, setting the stage for game two.
Whitewater started the first game with a 3-0 lead thanks to a Brandon Bell single that scored Chandler Reiden in the first and a two-run homer from Hunter Bening that made it 3-0.
Greenbrier would stage another comeback in the second game in the fifth inning after Whitewater built a 2-0 lead. Eight consecutive Wolfpack batters reached base as Greenbrier scored five times.
That was all the Wolfpack needed to send its team to the state finals to face the winner of Starr’s Mill and Pope.
“You have to tip your cap to [Greenbrier], they are a good team,” said head coach Mark Jones, who completed his first year under the helm at Whitewater.
“I’m excited for the upcoming years because we have a lot of young talent; we had a great year but we just couldn’t duplicate our success tonight.”
The Wildcats played six extra innings over the course of two playoff match ups going 11 innings against Gainesville in the GHSA quarter finals, winning in a close 2-1 matchup.
“We lost against Northside Columbus and came back to win two games so I told my team with our pitching and defense we are never out of a game,” Jones said.
Sophomore pitcher Jake Lee went five innings, giving up just one run on four hits and induced three double plays for the Wildcats.
In the second game, Taylor Turner’s two-run inside the park home run gave the Wildcats an early 2-0 lead. The Wildcats added another run in the last inning of the game on a sacrifice fly ball to left field.
“When we went up two runs I thought we had a shot at it, but it got away from us,” Jones said. “My team never gave up so I’m proud of them.”
The winner of today’s matchup against Starr’s Mill and Pope High School will host Greenbrier for the state championship.
