CENTRE – For the Cherokee County Warriors, Tuesday’s Class 4A, Area 9 baseball series opener against Jacksonville was a game of missed opportunities.
They stranded base runners in crucial situations, and they struggled getting bunts down to move those runners.
That being said, freshman pitcher Garrett McRay still kept the Warriors in the game, but so did Jacksonville senior Kody Willingham.
In the end, Willingham bested McRay and the Warriors 4-3 to take the edge in a series that will determine the area champion. Willingham tossed a four-hitter with four walks and 11 strikeouts in 6 2/3 innings. McRay was the tough-luck loser. He allowed three earned runs on eight hits with a walk and a strikeout.
Both coaches applauded the efforts of their starting pitchers.
“Today was probably the best game Kody had in a Jacksonville Golden Eagle uniform,” Jacksonville coach Jamison Edwards said. “He competed all day. He fought through the tough situations. He fought through the adversity. He fought through the situations where a lot of times this year he’s kind of been on the other side, but he just kept grinding, kept fighting and kept us in the ball game. I cannot say enough about him.”
“A lot of people may not have known who Garrett McRay is, but I think they will now,” Cherokee County coach Will Smith said. “It’s his first year with the program. He does not have a win on the season, but he has pitched against some really high-level competition. He’s thrown against Daphne. He’s thrown against Etowah. He’s thrown against Leeds. He pitched well enough to beat every one of those teams. Our guys knew Garrett was going to throw well enough to keep us in the baseball game, and he did. He threw well enough to win this baseball game.
“A freshman coming in and throwing 77 pitches in seven innings, you can’t ask any more than that. The kid’s got a bright future.”
Jacksonville (14-7) struck first in the top of the third inning. With two outs, leadoff batter Taj Morris managed a single to center. Following a walk to Willingham, Tito Canales and Jim Ogle delivered back-to-back doubles to left to provide the Golden Eagles a 3-0 advantage.
But the Warriors (12-17) battled back to tie the game in the bottom of the fourth as they batted around against Willingham.
Tristan Whitefield led off with a single to left. Connor Wilson followed with a double to left, then Walker Pruett was hit by a pitch to load the bases for Haden Wheeler. Wheeler popped out to first for the second out, but Jackson Waldrop earned a walk to score the Warriors’ first run. Luke Young then delivered a two-run double to right to tie the game at 3.
“That’s kind of what we’re built to do,” Smith said. “Somebody punches us in the mouth and we want to try and give that punch back. We did. That’s all you can ask out of these guys.”
Jacksonville regained the lead in the top of the fifth with an unearned run, and Willingham made it stand. He did run into a little trouble in the bottom of the seventh with two outs when he walked Whitfield to bring Wilson to the plate. Edwards opted to bring in reliever Grant Patterson, who got Wilson to ground out to him after one pitch to end the game.
“I felt like (Willingham) got squeezed right there on that last batter of the day,” Edwards said. “I thought he earned the win right there, but that’s baseball and you’ve got to play the next play. We had (Patterson) come in and he got us an out on one pitch.”
Canales and Jackson Bonner led Jacksonville at the plate by going 2-for-3. Willingham was 1-for-3 with a walk. Ogle went 1-for-2. Carmelo Canales was 1-for-3 and Morris was 1-for-4.
Young led the Warriors at the plate with a 2-for-3 performance. Wilson and Pruett had the other Warrior hits. Malachi Horton, Whitefield, Waldrop and Haden Wheeler each had a walk.
Game two of the series is scheduled for 4:30 p.m. at Jacksonville’s Henry Farm Park. A third game, if necessary, will follow.
“These two teams are equal,” Edwards said. “This is good high school baseball. We’ve got to stay grounded and we’ve got to stay focused and we’ve got to show up tomorrow and be ready to do the same thing.”
“I’ve been preaching from day one it’s going to take us winning a three-game series to win the area, to win a playoff series,” Smith said. “We’re prepared for it. We’re ready for it. Our guys are embracing it. I can’t wait for tomorrow. It should be fun.”