Dragons Take 2 out of 3 for Region Series Win Over Jackson County - Post 1 of 2

The Jefferson Dragons played a 3 game region series against rival, Jackson County last week.  After a slow start to the series where the Dragons dropped game 1 2-0 at home, they bounced back to sweep a double-header at Jackson County on Friday night to take the series win. 

In game 1 on Tuesday, the Dragons hosted the Panthers at Horace J. Jackson Field.  In a game that was controlled by pitching and defense, the Dragons left 7 runners on base and were unable to produce any runs as they dropped this game by a 2-0 score.  Jefferson had runners on base in all but the 1st inning but were unable to capitalize.  #22 Micah Carpenter got the start on the hill for Jefferson.  In 6 innings of work, Carpenter recorded 8 Ks and allowed 2 runs on 5 hits.  #9 Jake Franklin came on in relief in the 7th and allowed just 1 hit and 0 runs, while recording 1 K.

On Friday night, the Dragons took the long road trip to Jackson County for a double-header to close out the series.  After 2 rain delays that pro-longed the evening, Jefferson came out on top in game 1 of the double-header by an 8-3 score.  The Pantehers held a 2-0 lead for the game until the Jefferson jumped on the board when #19 Christian Hutch (1-for-3 2RBI) drove a Double to wall driving in #13 Jared Bates and #8 Hunter Thompson, who had both walked, which tied the game at 2.  Moving the 6th, the Dragons busted the game open, scoring 6 more runs.  #20 Taylor Wilkes (2-for-4 2RBI) drove in 2 runs off a Single to get things rolling.  With bases loaded, Micah Carpenter walked to bring in a run.  Jake Franklin (1-for-3 RBI) then followed with a RBI Double and then #7 Ethan Garner (1-for-4 2RBI) immediately followed with a 2 RBI Single.  Garner also got the start on the hill for Jefferson and threw a complete game 7 innings, even through 2 rain delays.  Garner recorded 10 Ks through 7 innings and allowed 3 runs (2 earned ) on 4 hits and secured the win.

In the final game of the series and double-header, the Dragons kept the offensive power going as they rolled to a 6-0 win over the Panthers to take the series win.  Ethan Garner (1-for-4 RBI) started things with a RBI single in the 1st and #12 Zack Boobas (2-for-4 RBI) immeidately followed with another RBI single to give Jefferson an early 2-0 lead.  Christian Hutch (1-for-5 RBI) added another run in the 2nd with another RBI Double.  Another run came in 3rd when Boobas scored after couple of Panther errors.  Micah Carpenter (1-for-3 2RBI) then drove a 2 RBI Single in the 5th to give Jefferson a 6 run advantage that they held.  Jake Franklin took the mound for the Dragons and cruised to 7 complete game innings of 1hit baseball where he fanned 8 batters, keeping Jackson County silent and securing another win.

Jefferson now stands with a 16-4 record and are 12-3 in Region 8 AAA, holding 2nd place in the region just behind the 12-4 (10-2 8AAA) Oconee County Warrios.  The Dragons will host Riverside on Tuesday night this week for Senior Night and then will wrap-up their 2015 regular season next week with a Region 8 AAA series with Elbert County.