FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. — It will take one more day and one more game to decide the Region 8-4A champion.
North subregion champ Cherokee Bluff and South subregion champ North Oconee split the first two games of the three-game series on Tuesday at Bluff Ballpark.
The Bears opened with a 13-7 win in Game 1 while North Oconee took the second game, 16-1 in four innings, to send it to a deciding third game.
The two teams will head to North Oconee on Wednesday for the final game of the series that will decide the No. 1 and No. 2 seeds in the upcoming Class 4A state playoffs.
Bluff coach Jeremy Kemp was upbeat despite the lopsided loss with a chance to sweep the series.
"That one just got away from us," Kemp said of the Game 2 loss. "I'm proud of how we came out in the first game and put some runs on them. Jacob (Vokal) pitched well and we still have plenty of arms we can use (in Game 3). I feel good about where we are right now."
In the first game, Cherokee Bluff (25-2) belted three home runs, two by Mississippi State-signee Brett House and one by Georgia Southern-signee Bryce England in a 10-hit attack. They used an 8-run first inning to grab a quick lead and held on late.
Game 1: Bluff 13, Titans 7
Jacob Vokal got the win and Braxton Beal got the save on the mound pitching the final 1 1/3 innings. Beal struck out the side in the seventh to preserve the win after getting out of a huge jam in the sixth.
The Titans grabbed a quick 2-0 lead in the first on a two-out, two-run home run from Kyle Jones. Jones appeared to be struck out the pitch before but Vokal did not get the call. Jones then hammered Vokal’s next pitch to center for the lead.
The Bears answered back in a big way, though, batting around in the bottom of the first. They sent 10 men to the plate and knocked out North Oconee starter KJ Moon. Bryce England knocked in Vokal with an RBI double and Caleb Miele then scored on a wild pitch to tie the game at 2.
Brett House followed with a two-run home run. Landon Kemp had an RBI single to right and Vokal knocked in two with his second hit of the inning. Later pinch-runner Tanaka Mukono scored from second on an infield hit by Ty Corbin for a stunning 8-2 lead.
England continued the barrage against Titans’ reliever Landon Roldan, smacking his 12th home run of the season to lead off the second to push the lead to 9-2.
From there North Oconee began to slowly chip away.
The Titans loaded the bases with no outs in the third on a single, a walk and a single. But Vokal struck out Jones, got Moon to ground into a RBI fielder’s choice, and struck out Wyatt Land with the bases loaded again as North Oconee scored just one in the inning.
North Oconee inched closer in the fourth as Jack Fabris smacked a two-run homer to get within 9-5. That knocked out Vokal, who went 3 2/3 innings, allowing five runs on six hits. Gabe Gowder took over for Vokal in the fourth and got the final out.
Braxton Beal took over for Gowder, who went two innings, with two out in the sixth with two runners on base. He walked the first batter and the Titans scored on a wild pitch. Jones followed with an RBI hit to cut the lead to 9-7. Vokal, who moved over to third by then, made a diving stop to save two runs to get the final out of the inning.
Corbin led off the sixth with a double to left for the Bears. Miele followed with an RBI single but was gunned trying to stretch to a double. But Bryce England singled and House hit his second home run of the game to give the Bears a 12-7 lead.
Game 2: North Oconee 16, Bluff 1
Brady Stephens, who beat the Titans during the regular season, Ben Crumpton, and Jack Sparks all struggled on the mound for Cherokee Bluff as the Titans exploded for 13 runs in the opening two innings.
North Oconee plated eight in the opening frame, getting seven hits combined with a two-run Bears error as 12 batters went to the plate. Stephens, Crumpton, and Sparks all got just two outs as North Oconee took a 13-1 lead after the first two innings.
The Titans scored three runs in the fourth to put the game out of reach.
Land allowed just a RBI single to House in the first inning.
