FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. — Lumpkin County intentionally walked Cherokee Bluff’s Bryce Fontenot five times in the two teams’ Class 3A opening round series on Friday.
It worked the first four times.
KT Thompson lined a two-run single to right field to break open a tight Game 2, giving the Bears a sweep of the Indians 3-2 and 9-3 at Bluff Ballpark.
“I told Bryce they were going to pay,” Thompson said. “I knew I had to come up big for our team there. I was able to deliver there.”
The Bears (20-11) got a complete-game, two-hitter from Gabe Gowder in the Game 1 win. The second game was close until Cherokee Bluff scored five runs in the seventh inning.
“That was good for us,” Cherokee Bluff Coach Jeremy Kemp said. “That was some good games. (Lumpkin Coach) Ryan Zaideman does a great job. He had them ready to play.”
The 11th-seeded Bears will face the winner of the Northwest Whitfield-Island series next week in the second round.
Cherokee Bluff jumped out to a 4-0 lead in Game 2 on Bubba Coleman’s two-run homer and a throwing error by Lumpkin. The Indians responded with three runs in the sixth inning. Jayzen Johnson drove in a run with a single, and a Cherokee Bluff error scored two more.
Logan Robinson got the final two outs of the sixth to preserve the Bears’ lead. In the top of the seventh, the Indians walked Fontenot to load the bases. Thompson made them pay with his single that scored Coleman and Landon Kemp. Beau Bruns doubled in Fontenot and Thompson.
“What a job by Logan,” Thompson said. “They score three and have second and third with one out, and he comes in there and gets it done.”
In the first game, Gowder (10-1) did not allow a hit until the fourth inning and finished with a two-hitter. The senior lefthander struck out three.
“That’s Gabe,” Kemp said. “He does that every game.”
After the Bears took a 3-2 lead in the fifth inning, he retired the Indians in the sixth and seventh innings on 18 pitches to close out the win.
Lumpkin tied the game 2-2 in the top of the fifth on a Bluff error that scored Tyler Cortes and Kendal Lee. Gowder got out of the inning by picking off the runner at second.
In the bottom of the inning, Ethan England led off with a double and scored on Coleman’s double.
The Bears scored a run in the first inning on a Lumpkin error that scored Kemp. They added a run in the second on Bruns’ sacrifice fly that scored England. Bruns had three hits and England had two hits.
Lumpkin starter Adian Rogers kept the Indians in the game by stranding two Bluff runners on in each of the first three innings.
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