MOULTRIE – The juggling catch to end the night … apropos.

Anyone expecting to see a defensive meltdown in a region game out of his Colquitt County High baseball team will have to wait another week.

Freshman shortstop Cannon Whatley didn’t let the baseball hit the ground while backing up into the outfield, and his catch was the final out of the Packers’ 4-1 win against the Camden County Wildcats. This was Game 2 of Friday’s Region 1-7A doubleheader, and it completed a sweep for Tony Kirkland’s club to raise its record to 8-15. Most importantly, it put Colquitt two full games ahead of Camden for second place in the region at 6-4.

The defensive breakdown … that was by Camden. Colquitt, for all the issues in the field for a lot of the 2019 season, did not commit an error all day. In Game 2 the Packers backed up Jeb Johnson, who went the distance, had baserunners in all seven innings, but was able to rely on teammates like Whatley, senior second baseman Reese Bledsoe and the outfield to steadily set down each Wildcat rally.

Those Wildcats from Kingsland, however, had five errors behind hard-throwing senior Adam Wainright. It was the second time this season Colquitt beat Wainright, who fanned eight and walked one on Friday.

Of Colquitt’s four hits off Wainright, two were by outfielder Lucas Tostenson, who got credit for one RBI. The other RBI belonged to fellow outfielder and freshman Pershaun Fann on a single.

Camden did out-hit the Packers, and lead-off batter Tim Parker doubled twice. In the first inning he scored the only run for the Wildcats in two games. Cory Dowdell, the designated hitter, earned the RBI on a sacrifice fly.

In the second, the Wildcats left two runners on base without scoring, and the bottom half was a big nightmare for Wainright. Tostenson reached on a dropped ball at first base to start it and went to second on a wild pitch. Fann drove him home with one out and went to second on the relay home.

With two outs and a 1-1 tie, both Bledsoe and Tucker Hathcock reached on throwing errors that plated runs.

Johnson protected his 3-1 lead keeping Parker on third base after his third-inning double. On his only strikeout, catcher Callon Kubiak made a clutch throw to first base.

Bledsoe really shined in the fifth inning when Colten Thrift was on base via an infield single. He caught a throw from Whatley on the bag barehanded and, with no need for a transfer completed the double play. It was the third turned by the Packer infield in the doubleheader. Bledsoe later had to concentrate to take Jamie Felix’s grounder with Luke Parker running by him and get the speedy running back for the final out.

One more error from Camden started the home fifth, and Tostenson batted home another unearned run for 4-1.

Six of the last eight batters Johnson faced were routine to semi-difficult fly outs, one coming on a foul ball towards the home dugout by Kubiak.