Dragons Drop 2 of 3 to Hart County in Region 8AAA Series

The Jefferson Dragons faced off against  Region 8AAA opponent, the Hart County Bulldogs in a 3 game series on March 29 and April 1.  The series started at home on Tuesday where Jefferson took at 7-0 win and then ended on Friday with a double-header that saw the Dragons drop both games by scores of 2-3 and 2-6.

In game 1, Jefferson jumped on the board early and were able to cruise to a shut-out victory.  2 runs crossed in the 1st inning when #12 Zack Boobas (2-for-4 3RBI) drove a 2 RBI Single scoring #20 Taylor Wilkes (1-for-2 2Runs), who led-off with a Single and #8 Hunter Thompson (0-for-3 BB Run), who followed with a walk.  Moving to the 2nd, 4 more runs scored on 3 straight RBI hits including a 2RBI Single for #10 Joshua Hutch (1-for-2 2RBI), another RBI Single for Boobas, and a RBI Single for #6 Kasan Rainey (2-for-4 2B RBI).  The Dragons scored their 7th run in the 4th, when Rainey drove a Double and later scored on a a RBI Single from #18 Will Breese (1-for-3 RBI).

Pitching was the big story for the Dragons in this game.  Taylor Wilkes started the game on the game on the mound for Jefferson.  Wilkes pitched 7 complete game inning, recording 14 Ks and allowing just 1 hit that did not come until the 6th inning.

Moving to Friday night, offensive production was tougher for Jefferson.  Game 1, which went to 8 innings saw the Dragons score just two runs. The first came in the 2nd inning when #18 Will Breese (0-for-2 RBI) drove a productive ground-out to short, scoring #6 Kasan Rainey (0-for-4).  Down by 1 going to the 7th, the Dragons scores 1 more on a RBI Single from #10 Joshua Hutch (1-for-2 RBI), which scored Taylor Wilkes (1-for-3 2B) who reached on a Double.

On the mound for game 2, #14 Asher Standridge got the start.  Standridge pitched 7 innings, recording 6 Ks and allowing just 2 runs (0 earned) on 1 hit.  #7 Patrick Hickox came into to pitch the 8th.  Hickox recorded 1 K and allowed 1 hit with 1 unearned run crossing, which gave Hart County the win.

For the final game of the series, the Dragons could only muster 2 runs again.  The first run came in the 3rd when #10 Joshua Hutch (1-for-3 RBI) drove a RBI Single scoring #4 Justin Cole (1-for-1 Run) who reached on a lead-off Single.  Their only other run came in the 5th off a RBI Sacrifice Fly from #18 Will Breese  (1-for-3 RBI SacFly), scoring #7 Patrick Hickox (1-for-2 Run), who reached on an infield bunt single.
On the mound for Jefferson #10 Joshua Hutch got the start.  Hutch pitched 2 innings, recording 1 K and allowing 6 runs (5 earned) on 1 hit.  Hickox came on in relief, tossing 4 innings, recording 2 Ks and keeping the Bulldogs hit-less and scoreless through the rest of the game.

Following this series, Jefferson stands a record of 13-5 (9-3 Region 8AAA) and hold 2nd place in the Region.

Pictures to follow...