By John Spargo
The Fannin County Rebels opened up a three-game region series with Gordon Central Tuesday, March 15, in Blue Ridge. Fannin got the bats going early and scored in bunches, jumping out to an early 10-0 lead and cruising to a 12-0 win over the Warriors.
Senior Jordan Bennett got the start on the mound for the Rebels and got the ballgame off to a great start by sitting down Gordon Central in order in the top of the first. Fellow senior Jason Pearson led off the bottom of the first with a double, and junior Bryson Holloway quickly singled him home to give Fannin a quick 1-0 lead. Junior Connor Martin was hit by a pitch, and Jake Kuna came to the plate and singled Holloway in with another run. Another senior, Chance Stacy, followed with another RBI single, driving in Martin. Already up 3-0, the Rebels kept pounding the baseball as Hayden Danner singled in Stacy to keep the runs coming. Junior Clay Heaton was hit with another pitch, and senior Sawyer Moreland ripped a two-run double to center field, bringing in Danner and Heaton to finish off the scoring, but Fannin had jumped out to a 6-0 lead after one inning. The Warriors got a single in the second, but Bennett slammed the door with two straight strikeouts to end the inning, giving the Rebels a chance to increase their lead, and they did.
Holloway led off with another single, Stacy drew a two-out walk and Carson Callihan, a freshman, drove in Holloway with a RBI single. Danner was hit by another errant Warrior pitch, and Heaton was hit for the second time, driving in Stacy to extend the lead to 8-0. Moreland then delivered a two-out RBI single, scoring Callihan, and Pearson walked, scoring pinch runner, freshman Colton Gray to give Fannin a 10-0 lead after the first two innings. In the third inning, Bennett pitched around a walk, again mowing down the last two batters of the inning to keep the lead 10-0. In the home half of the third inning, Kuna and Stacy walked, but a double play ended the scoring opportunity and the inning.
In the top of the fourth inning, the Warriors drew a one-out walk, but never scored thanks to a strikeout by Bennett and a pickoff by senior catcher Landon Norton as he gunned out the runner at first.
Fannin added another run in the bottom of the fourth as Norton, Heaton, and sophomore Bryce Burnette all walked. Another walk to senior Cater Johnson drove in Norton to extend the Rebel lead to 11-0. Sophomore Gaige Foster finished off the scoring for the day as he drove in Heaton with a RBI single, making the score 12-0. Bennett ended the game in style, retiring the Warriors in order in the top of the fifth inning, giving the Rebels a comfortable 12-0 victory to get in the region win column.
Head Coach Travis Stone was excited about his team’s effort, saying, “These young men got back going in region play and came out early to take care of business. By doing so, we were able to get a number of guys to the plate and in the field, which will only help us in the future. Would’ve liked to get a few more to the plate, but it just didn’t happen, but we expect to have more opportunities in the future. Jordan Bennett set the tone on the mound from the first pitch and pitched a very good game. Just what we needed to get back in the W column. Wins and losses have to be short lived with us needing two more on Thursday.”
Eight different players chipped in with base hits, led by Moreland and Holloway with two apiece. Stacy, Callihan, Danner, Pearson, Foster, and Kuna all had one hit apiece for Fannin. Moreland led the way with three RBI’s, with Pearson, Johnson, Holloway, Foster, Kuna, Stacy, Callihan, Danner and Heaton all chipping in with one RBI each.
Bennett had a great outing on the mound for Fannin County, going five innings and allowing only one hit while striking out seven Gordon Central batters to get the win.
Scoring Summary:
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 - Final
FCHS 6 4 0 2 X X X - 12
GCHS 0 0 0 0 0 X X - 0