Playoff Bound Dragons Sweep Elbert County To Cap Off Successful Regular Season

The Jefferson Dragon closed out their regular season last week in a final 3 game region 8AAA series with the Blue Devils of Elbert County.  Jefferson took control of Elbert County in game 1 on Tuesday and continued that success to end the regular season with a 3 game sweep of Elbert County and lock in 2nd place Region 8AAA and home field advantage in the first round of the playoffs.

On Tuesday night, the series started off on the road at Elbert County.  Jefferson took a little bit to get their offense going as Bryce Bowen for Elbert held the Dragons to just 3 hits and 0 runs through 5 innings with 8 runners left stranded on base.  The Dragons fell behdind 4-0 going into the 6th inning when the game began to shift.  #12 Zack Boobas (1-for-4 1Run) led things off with a single followed by #18 Will Breese (1-for-3 2B) driving a shot for a double.  #8 Hunter Thompson and #13 Jared Bates both then walked back to back, with Jared's walk bringing in the Dragons first run.  2 more runs scored with #20 Taylor Wilkes and #19 Christian Hutch were both hit by pitches bringing the score to 4-3.  #9 Jake Franklin (3-for-3 3RBI BB) then followed up big with a bases loaded Triple that gave the Dragons a 6-4 lead.  #22 Micah Carpenter got the start on the hill for Jefferson for his final regular season start as a Dragon.  Carpenter threw 6 innings and recorded 7 Ks, allowing 4 runs on 6 hits.  Jake Franklin came in to close things out in the 7th recording 2 Ks and line-out to left on a diving catch by Taylor Wilkes securing the win for the Dragons.

Moving to the double-header Friday evening, game 1 saw a similar slow start offensively as the Dragons only manage 1 hit through the 1st 3 innings.  They broke things open in the 4th however, with a 6 run inning.  Christian Hutch (2-for4 RBI Run) led things off in the 4th with a Double.  After Jake Franklin (1-for-4 Run) reached on an error, Micah Carpenter (1-for-3 RBI Run) drove the Hutch with a Single to left.  #7 Ethan Garner (1-for-3 RBI Run) followed with another RBI Single.  3 more RBI hits came when Jared Bates (1-for-3 RBI 2Runs) drove another RBI single, followed by Taylor Wilkes (2-for-4 2RBI) with a 2 RBI Single and Hunter Thompson (2-for-3 RBI) with an RBI Single which gave the Dragons a 6-0 lead.  One more run came in the 6th when Christian Hutch drove in Thompson on a RBI shot to center.  Ethan Garner started off on the hill for Jefferson for game 1.  In his final regular season start for Jefferson, Garner recorded 6 innings of work wit 7 Ks and allowing just 1 run on 3 hits.  #14 Asher Standridge came in to close in the 7th for Jefferson.  Standridge recorded 1 K and allowed 2 runs on 1 hit.  Despite the rally, the Dragons held on for a 7-3 win.

In the final game of the regular season, the Dragon jumped on the board early as they cruised to 13-3 win in 5 innings.  Taylor Wilkes (3-for-4 3RBI 3Runs) led the the 1st off with a single.  After stealing 2nd, Wilkes scored on a RBI single by Hunter Thompson (3-for-4 3RBI Run) to take an early 1-0 lead.  The Dragons then exploded for 5 runs in the 2nd.  Zack Boobas (1-for-1 2BB 3Runs) started things with walk.  This was followed by 4 Singles in a row by #10 Joshua Hutch (2-for-3 RBI 2Runs), Will Breese (2-for-2 2RBI Run), Taylor Wilkes (3-for-4 3RBI 3Runs), and Hunter Thompson (3-for-4 3RBI Run, including RBI hits by Breese, Wilkes, and Thompson.   Wilkes drove in another run the 3rd scoring Boobas.  Jefferson capped off the offense in the 4th with 6 more runs including RBIs from Micah Carpenter (1-for-3 RBI Run), Joshua Hutch, Will Breese, Taylor Wilkes, Hunter Thompson, and Jake Franklin.  Jake Franklin took to the mound for Jefferson for what would be his last regular season start for Jefferson.  Franklin recorded 4 innings of work with 6 Ks and allowing 3 runs on 3 hits.  Taylor Wilkes came in to close in the 5th facing 3 batters with 3 Ks securing the win.

The Dragons finished the 2015 regular season and their first season at AAA with a 20-4 record (15-3 in Region 8AAA).  Jefferson secured 2nd place in the region and will host Lumpkin County in the 1st round of the state playoffs Friday night.  Come out and support the Dragons as they begin their playoff run.