JV Game 12 - Jefferson (15) @ Elbert County (10)

The Jefferson Dragons JV squad, coming fresh off a dramatic win at home Wednesday, hit the road to take on the Blue Devils of Elbert County on Thursday night.  The Dragons jumped on Elbert County early, scoring 4 runs in the 1st and scored often to maintain control of the game and pullout 15-10 win overt the Blue Devils.  #12 Terrell Wall (2-for-3) got things rolling in the 1st with a Bunt single.  #14 Ethan Page (1-for-1 2RBI 2BB) followed with a walk.  Next #16 Brandon Clinton (1-for-3 2 RBI) hit an RBI single in the hole at shortstop and later knocked another run in the 3rd on a situational ground-out to 2nd.  #8 Chaz Evans (2-for-3 2 RBI) followed with another RBI single and later knocked in another run on a double in the 3rd. #24 Carter Evans (1-for-2 2RBI 1BB) followed right after with a 2 RBI single, giving the Dragons an early 4-0 lead.  Additional offensive support came off the bats of #11 Garrett Brown (1-for-2 2 RBI) who had a 2 RBI double in the 6th, Ethan Page with a 2 RBI single in the 4th, #20 Justin Cole (1-for-4 RBI) with and RBI in the 4th, and #9 Tyler Rampey with an RBI in the 6th.  #19 Logan Garner started the game on the hill for Jefferson.  Garner pitched 3 innings, recording 1 K and allowing 3 runs on 4 hits.  Chaz Evans came on in relief keeping Elbert quite with 0 runs and 0 hits recorded.  #5 Brandon Trefren came in in the 4th recording 2 Ks and 0 runs and 0 hits.  Elbert tried to rally in the 6th inning putting 7 runs on the board in that inning.  #22 Brooks Beddow came on in relief to stop the rally going 1 1/3 innings and recording 2 Ks and allowing 0 runs and 1 hit.
The Dragons have improved to a record of 10-1-1 for the season.  This week they travel to White County for a Double header on Wednesday, they will host Franklin County on Thursday, and travel to Madison County on Saturday to make up a previous rain-out.  They will close out the regular season next Monday, 4/13, at home versus East Jackson.

Logan Garner delivers the heat

Ethan Page stands ready to hit

Brandon Clinton loads for the swing

Chaz Evans taking a swing

Billy Finch slides in safe at Home

Chaz now on the mound dealing

Garrett Brown loaded for the swing

Brandon Trefren now controlling the game

Tyler Rampey set for an RBI hit

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.

Dragons Take Series Win Over Hart County To Take Over 1st Place in 8AAA - Post 2 of 3

Pictures from Hart County...

Coach Knight meets for the pre-game pow-wow

Taylor Wilkes drives the ball

Will Breese sees the pitch in

Jake Franklin taking a hack

Ethan Garner stretches for the out at 1st

Christian Hutch fires across the diamond to 1st

Ethan Garner drives a Home Run

Ethan rounding 3rd

The team waits for Ethan as he trots home

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

Pictures from Hart County continued...

Christian Hutch looks to drive a double

Zack Boobas drives the ball

Joshua Hutch waits for the pitch

Hunter Thompson wears one for the team

Taylor Wilkes squares for the bunt

Hunter Thompson stands on 2nd

Hunter cross home

Taylor Wilkes cross the plate

Micah Carpenter in control on the hill

Micah winding up for the next pitch

Jake Franklin stands read at shortstop

JV Game 10 & 11 - Jackson County @ Jefferson: Post 1 of 2

The Jefferson Dragon kicked off the month of April with a double header at home versus the Jackson County Panthers on Wednesday night.  Following a tie  game that kicked off their 2015 season in February, the Dragons pulled out 2 wins in the double-header by scores of 4-2 in game 1 and then 2-1 in a 9 inning marathon that saw a dramatic walk-off double to win the game.

In game 1 of the double header, Jefferson jumped out to an early lead in the first scoring 1 on an RBI single by #11 Garrett Brown.  Brown ended the night 2-for-3 with an RBI.  After losing the briefly in the 2nd, falling behind 2-1 off a Sac Fly RBI and RBI Single by Jackson County, the Dragons jumpted back on to tie the game in the 3rd and then take the lead for good in the 4th to seal the win.  #13 Billy Finch, who went 1-for-1 with 2 walks and 1 run scored, scored the Dragon's 2nd run in the 3rd after reaching on a single and then scoring on a passball at home.  In the 4th, #71 Lane Watkins (1-for-3 2B) got things rolling with a double, after #91 Zac Corbin reached base being hit by a pitch, #9 Tyler Rampey (1-for-2 2RBI ), put the Dragons on top with a 2 RBI single to give the Dragons the lead for good.  #18 Will Wood took the mound for Dragons to start.  Will pitched 6 innings, recording 4 Ks, and gave up just 2 runs in the 2nd and 4 hits.  #10 Allen Bryan came on in the 7th to close out the game not allowing any runs or hits to record the save and the win for Jefferson.

Game 2 saw another close match that took the Dragons and Panthers to 9 innings in a tight game that was controlled by pitching and defense.  The Dragons sealed a 2-1 win in dramatic fashion in the 9th to prevent another tie.  The Dragons fell behind 1-0 in the 2nd off a Jackson County RBI single. Jefferson did not get on the board until the 5th.  #8 Chaz Evans lead off the inning reaching base after getting hit by a pitch.  #24 Carter Evans, who went 1-for-2 with an RBI, knocked in Chaz on an RBI single to tie the game at 1, which is where the game stayed until the 9th inning. Fast forward to the 9th where, the catcher, #16 Brandon Clinton (1-for-4) kicked things off with a line drive single to start things off.  #91 Zac Corbin is then brought in as courtesy runner for Clinton.  Chaz Evans, who went 1-for-2 for the night, followed with deep RBI Double to right center.  Corbin scored from 1st to give the Dragons a walk-off win in the 9th.  #15 Patrick Hickox started things off on the mound for Jefferson.  Hickox recorded 7 innings of work for the Dragons, recording 2 KS and allowing just 1 run on 5 hits.  #22 Brooks Beddow came in to close out the game in extra innings.  In 2 innings of work, Beddow faced the minimum 6 battersand recorded 6 Ks to keep the Panthers silent.

Jefferson stands at 9-1-1 following this double header and faced Elbert County on Thursday.

JV Game 10 & 11 - Jackson County @ Jefferson: Post 2 of 2

Pictures from the JV Double-Header versus Jackson County...

Billy Finch waits for the pitch

Lane Watkins drives a double

Tyler Rampey looks to knock in two more runs

Will Wood in the control on the hill

Allen Bryan closing the game for the save

Chaz Evans driving the ball

Patrick Hickox controlling the tempo

Carter Evans looks to drive in the first run

Brooks Beddow ready to fan another batter

Zac Corbin scores the winning run

The team rushes the field on the walk-off and Caleb Chandler bear hugs Chaz Evans

Dragon pile after the win

JV Game 9 - Banks County (5) @ Jefferson (6)

After playing two straight nights at home, the Jefferson Dragons closed out their week playing one more game at home as they played host to the Leopards of Banks County.  Coming off two close wins, the Dragons faced another tough battle with Banks County falling behind to a 5-0 deficit early.  This set the stage for a come back, which saw the Dragons claw back to finally take the lead back after a 4 run 6th inning to take a 6-5 win over the Leopards.  #20 Justin Cole (2-for-4 Run RBI) set the stage in the 3rd inning reaching after his first of two hits on the night and then stealing home on a pass ball to give Jefferson their 1st run of the game.  Into the 5th inning, Cole drove a single to knock in #6 Kasan Rainey (1-for-2 Walk), who reached on a walk to give the Dragons their 2nd run.  Now down by 3 moving the 6th, #14 Ethan Page (2-for-3 Triple) got things rolling again with a lead-off Triple and then scored off a single by #8 Chaz Evans (1-for-1 RBI 2 Hit By Pitch).  Evans later scored on a pass ball.  #7 Clayton Jones the reached based on an error by the Banks 3rd baseman.  #13 Billy Finch came into pinch run and then scored on another pass ball.  #23 Carter Evans, reached base after being hit by a pitch and later scored the go ahead run off a RBI single by #5 Brandon Trefren (1-for-2 RBI).
On the hill, #19 Logan Garner got the start for Jefferson.  Garner got off to a shaky shaky start as Banks scored 4 in the 1st inning following a couple lead off hits and walks.  He settle back in for the 2nd and shutdown the Leopards recording 2 Ks and forcing a popup out.  Garner pitched 2 innings and recorded 3 Ks and allowed 5 runs on 2 hits.  #22 Brooks Beddow came on in relief and shutdown Banks County down the stretch, keeping them off the board.  Beddow tossed 5 innings and recorded 7 Ks, allowing only 1 hit and 0 runs to close out the game for the Dragons.
The Dragons now stand at 7-1-1 for the season.  This week, they host a double-header on Wednesday versus Jackson County at 4:30PM and then on Thursday hit the road, traveling to Elbert County for a 5:55PM start.

Logan Garner delivering the pitch

Garrett Brown stands ready at 1st

Billy Finch locked in

Justin Cole slides into 3rd

Ethan Garner drives one of two hits

Brooks Beddow in to control the game

Brandon Trefren drives in a run

Justin Cole swings for hit.