Dragons Take Series Win Over Hart County To Take Over 1st Place in 8AAA Post 1 of 3

Tied for 1st place in Region 8AAA, the Jefferson Dragons faced off against region rival Hart County.  The Dragons took a series win taking 2 out of 3 over the Bulldogs, giving them 1st place spot in the Region having the head-to-head advange over Oconee County. 

In game 1 on Tuesday night, the Dragons hit the road to Hart County. The Dragons jumped ahead in the 2nd and at one point had a 3-0 lead before the Bulldogs tied things up with 2 runs in the 4th and 1 in the 5th.  Jefferson then jumped out on top in the 6th and held the lead to record a 4-3 win on the road.  #7 Ethan Garner kicked things off for the Dragons with a Solor Home Run in the 2nd inning.  Garner was 2-for-3 on the night with 1 RBI the homer.  In the 3rd, #9 Jake Franklin hit a single to right knocking in 2 more runs, #8 Hunter Thompson, who reached after being hit by a pitch, and #20 Taylor Wilkes who reached on a single.  Franklin was 2-for-3 on the night with 2 RBI.  After the Bulldogs tied the game up, the Dragons jumped back on top in the 6th.  #19 Chrisitan Hutch lead off with a Double to deep left center.  Hutch was 2-for-4 on the night.  He then reached 3rd on a #13 Jared Bates groundout to 2nd, and later scored on Wild Pitch.  #22 Micah Carpenter started on the hill for Jefferson.  Carpenter recorded 6 innings of work, fanning 6 and allowing 3 runs on 4 hits.  #7 Ethan Garner came on to close things out in the 7th.  Allowing just 1 hit, Garner forced 3 groundouts to short to keep Hart County off the board and record the win.

On Friday, the series moved home to Jefferson for double-header with Hart County.  In game 1 of the double-header, the Dragons played from behind, falling back as much a 4-1 in the 4th.  Jefferson then exploded for 8 runs in the 4th inning to take the lead and capped things with another run in the 5th and 5 more in the 6th to help secure a 15-8 win.  Taylor Wilkes scored the 1st run off  RBI single by Micah Carpenter.  Wilkes went 4-for-5 with an RBI and Carpetner went 2-for-4 with 2 RBI.  #13 Jared Bates (1-for-3 RBI) got things rolling in the 8 run 4th with an RBI single.  #18 Will Breese (3-for-5 3RBI followed witha  2 RBI Single.  Jake Franklin (3-for-4 2RBI) Carpeter followed with back-to-back RBI Doubles and Christian Hutch (2-for-3 RBI) followed with an RBI single.  5 more came in the 6th including RBI singles by Breese and Franklin and a 2 RBI single by #8 Hunter Thompson (1-for-2 2RBI).  Ethan Garner started on the mound for Jefferson.  Garner recorded 5 2/3 innings with 5 Ks and allowed 6 runs on 7 hits.  #14 Asher Standridge came on to close the game, throwing 1 1/3 innings with 1 K  and allowing 2 runs on 2 hits.

The final game of the series and double-header saw a different outcome as Hart County pulled out a 8-3 win.  The Bulldogs jumped ahead early with 2 run in the first.  They continued to add runs through the game making it difficult for the Dragons to come back.  Micah Carpenter gave the Drgaons their first run on an RBI double to left center.  Their next run didn't come until the 5th when #12 Zac Boobas recorded an RBI and finally Ethan Garner scored Jake Franklin on a ground out to 3rd in the 6th.  Taylor Wilkes started on the mound for Jefferson recording 5 innings with 1 K an allowing 6 runs  6 hits.  Chrstian Hutch came on relief in the allowing 2 runs on 1 hit.  Jake Franklin closed out the game and recored 3 Ks and with just 1 hit allowed.

The Dragons now stand with a 14-3 record, 10-2 in Region 8AAA.  They will next take on Jackson County at home on Tuesday and then in a double-header on Friday at Jackson County for their next region match-up.