MOULTRIE – The sun had well set, so Colquitt County High junior pitcher took his moment under the night Moultrie sky, unfazed at all by the atmosphere of high school playoff baseball.

Phillips struck out nine batters, walked four and allowed no runs and NO HITS through seven complete innings Friday when the Packers completed a first round GHSA Class 7A sweep of McEachern High School on Ike Aultman Field at Jerry Croft Stadium. Gavin Patel helped provide a bulk of the offense going 4-for-4 at the plate and Austin Singletary had three hits in the 6-0 victory.

This was after Colquitt County came back from behind to win Game 1 6-4. Tony Kirkland’s squad now advances to the ‘Sweet 16’ round, and as Region 1-7A champions they will remain in Moultrie and Packer Park to host 7A No. 2-ranked Parkview High. The doubleheader for this best-of-3 is Thursday, May 4, (Game 1 starting time TBA) with a third game set for May 5 if needed.

As Cruisin94 announcer Durwood Dominey proclaimed at the end of Phillips’ masterpiece, this was the first no-hit pitching performance for Colquitt County at Packer Park. Back in 2013 in Lee County, Clayton Brown – also a junior – threw a no-hitter in what was Kirkland’s 200th career coaching victory. (That season, the Packers also faced Parkview in the playoffs, and they needed Camden County to sweep Lowndes to help their playoff positioning; Colquitt won the region this year with the help of a Lowndes sweep of Camden).

There were times Friday when Phillips’ shutout was in danger, like in the bottom of the second inning when he walked the leadoff batter. Croft himself was present Friday and spoke of how, in high school games, a leadoff walk leads to a run more than 50 percent of the time. Phillips didn’t help things committing an error on the next batter, and McEachern bunted these two runners to scoring position.

Phillips threw a called strike 3 for out No. 2, and his catcher Jay Saunders pounded on a ball to get the final out at first.

In the bottom of the third, Phillips issued a leadoff walk. That Indian runner got to third only to see two teammates fan, including big Sidney Ross. One runner was on base in the fourth and fifth frames via walk but only got to second base, and in the sixth Phillips hit two batters. The pitcher, however, snatched a line drive in the air and turned a double play that pleased the home fans.

The Packers scored two runs in the first inning playing as the visiting team on the scoreboard. Saunders had the first hit and Patel the final one.

Buck Blalock doubled and Patel singled in a two-run third that also featured a hit from Singletary. Patel was also a factor hitting a double when Colquitt scored in the sixth.

The win was Phillips’ fifth on the season.

Game 1

Colquitt County varsity baseball entered Friday’s doubleheader 15-14, a near similar record to that of McEachern (15-13-1) though the Indians from Powder Springs was a fourth-place team from Region 3-7A. Among the marquee players for the Indians was senior Marlin Willis, a senior committed to Georgia State University. He was the starting pitcher, drove in two runs at the plate, but also experienced issues with the hot weather in the late afternoon that caused him to leave the game and not return for the nightcap.

McEachern jumped out to a 1-0 lead against Packer senior Wheeler Hunnicutt, all runners reaching base with two outs. Ross doubled to right-center and scored on Willis’ base hit up the middle.

The Packers responded with two runs in the bottom half, all starting with John Samuel Shenker’s leadoff single. Saunders singled off Willis’ glove. Singletary two times in this game did the job of moving those teammates over on the bunt, and each time the Packers made use of his sacrifice by scoring runs. Logan Wheeler put a fly ball deep enough to score Shenker – the team leader still in runs scored – and Blalock nearly sent a baseball over the fence for the first time by any Packer all season at home.

The senior infielder actually saw a number of pitches from Willis before doubling to the left-center wall and giving Colquitt the 2-1 advantage.

By the second inning, it looked like there would be some scoring numbers on the board. McEachern used two walks to get back to the top of its batting order and outfielder Keyshawn Askew. One of the many left-handed hitters in the first part of the Indian lineup singled to left with two outs.

That took the game into the third tied 2-2, but the scoring pattern died a bit with Colquitt only getting one baserunner in two straight turns. Hunnicutt stranded three Indians over his next two innings, getting three assists from his shortstop Patel. Without getting any runs, the game perhaps shifted in favor of the Packers in the bottom of the fourth.

Willis did not issue any walks, but with two outs Bledsoe drew a free pass with pitch calls Willis visibly did not like. Tanner Wilson chopped a base hit on 0-2, but he was hit by the ball batted in play from Dylan Dalton.

Hunnicutt gave way to Patel on the mound in the fifth, and McEachern took a 3-2 lead on Willis’ first-pitch solo home run. But even by breaking the tie with his bat, Willis was still not the same on the mound. Nothing went his way in the bottom of the fifth, and Colquitt County jumped ahead scoring three times.

Shenker walked to start it, and Willis hit Saunders. This set up Singletary’s second successful sacrifice for 2nd-and-3rd Packers, and Wheeler brought both home on a single up the middle.

McEachern had two outs, but it didn’t matter as Willis issued back-to-back walks bringing up Bledsoe. He singled on the first pitch he saw, and brother Alex Bledsoe scored as a pinch-runner to make it 5-3 Packers. This was the last batter Willis faced.

The remainder of the mound work belonged to Shenker, and he saved it for Patel throwing a perfect sixth. The Indians would get one run in the seventh on two hits and two walks, but Shenker fanned three and got Patel to catch the final out with the bases loaded.