Clashes between region and local foes produce drama

Sandy Creek’s varsity baseball team (7-2), ranked seventh in Class AAAA, won their fourth game in a row on Saturday by handing Landmark Christian, last year’s Class A state runner-up and currently ranked sixth in Class A, an 8-4 loss.

Christian Gaston, who pitched a perfect sixth inning, got the win for the Patriots, while Chase Blount also pitched well, allowing one hit and striking out five. Cody Sweeney earned the save.

Alex Green hit a grand slam and drove in another run with his second hit, while Braxton Lane also had a home run among his two hits. Arthur Owens had three hits on the day.

The Patriots winning streak was snapped on Monday with a 12-2 loss to Northgate in five innings. Ten unearned runs scored due to seven Sandy Creek errors. Owens had two hits in the loss and Hunter Parrott got the loss on the mound, allowing five hits and seven runs in three and a third of an inning.

Sandy Creek will play at Tri-Cities today at 5:30 p.m. and will play at Fayette County on Friday at 7 p.m.

Fayette County (5-4) lost to Starr’s Mill 8-1 on Friday and lost to McIntosh 9-5 on Monday. The Tigers play at Villa Rica today at 5:30 p.m.

McIntosh (6-4) lost to Whitewater 6-5 in nine innings last Friday, but bounced back with wins over Cherokee on Saturday (12-8 in 11 innings) and Fayette County on Monday.
Whitewater’s Demonte Grissom drove in the winning run in the ninth and Miles Head earned the win.

The Wildcats (7-1), ranked fourth in Class AAAA, play at Alexander today at 5:30 p.m. and will host Starr’s Mill, ranked fifth in Class AAAA, at 7 p.m. on Friday.

Starr’s Mill (6-1) will play at Banneker today at 5:30 p.m. The Panthers got six innings and eight strikeouts from Danny Beadling (3-0) against Fayette County. Paul Patterson had three hits, one for a home run, while Beadling drove in two runs and Jaye, who struck out two in the seventh, also had two hits.