Colquitt sweeps Camden in region doubleheader

Published 12:26 am Tuesday, March 22, 2022

MOULTRIE — The Colquitt County baseball team was involved in its fifth walk-off finish of the season on Monday on Ike Aultman Field at Jerry Croft Stadium.

And the Packers were finally the team celebrating.

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Colquitt scored the winning run in its 5-4 victory in the second game of its Region 1-7A doubleheader with Camden County when Chasyn Miley dashed home from second on a Wilcats throwing error on a bunt by Landon Griffin in the bottom of the seventh.

The Packers won the first game 8-3 and the sweep enabled them to even their region record at 2-2.

Lowndes has become the team to beat in the region after it swept Tift County 8-4 and 3-0 on Monday.

After taking two from the Packers last week, the Vikings are now 4-0 in the region. Tift County and Camden County are each 0-2.

According to a revised schedule, Colquitt County will go to Tift County on Saturday for their first meeting of the season.

The time of the first pitch of the first game was not available.

The Packers had already taken walk-off losses at Valdosta, Coffee, Thomas County Central and Lowndes and sorely needed to reverse that trend.

It only took three batters and a pair of exquisite bunts on Monday to do it.

With the score tied 4-4, Chasyn Miley led off the bottom of the seventh with a fly ball to short center field.

Jamie Felix appeared to slip as he prepared to make the catch and the ball fell to the grass behind him.

With Miley on first, Davis Dalton beat out what was supposed to be a sacrifice bunt and the Packers had runners at first and second with none out.

Griffin, who had three hits in the first game, but had struck out his first three times to the plate in the second, bunted the first pitch he saw from Camden County reliever Austin Hildebrand foul.

He rolled his second bunt attempt up the third base line where it was fielded cleanly, but thrown wildly past first. Miley scored easily to put the Packers back up over .500 with an 8-7 record.

Bryce Monk, who pitched the sixth and seventh innings, got the win in relief of starter Mason Moore.

Monk gave up a single to the first batter he faced, but retired the next six Wildcats in order. He struck out four, including all three he faced in the top of the seventh.

Colquitt had only five hits in the second game and scored their first four runs in the bottom of the second, taking advantage of two hits, three walks, a hit batsman, five stolen bases and run-scoring balk.

Camden scored a run in the top of the third on a walk, a wild pitch and a single by Luke Barlow.

The Wildcats knotted the game at 4-4 in the top of the fourth, scoring three times.

The run that tied the game scored on a wild pitch on a strikeout that would have ended the inning.

A Camden County gambit to tie the game in the fourth was foiled when Barlow tried to steal home as Moore picked up his cap, which had come off numerous times during the game as he delivered a pitch.

On this occasion, Moore was able to take the throw back to the mound, spy Barlow heading to the plate and throw to catcher Tucker Sparkman, who applied the tag to end the inning.

Moore went the first five innings and was charged with all four runs, although only two were earned.

He walked just one and struck out seven.

The Colquitt County hits were credited to Moore, Miley, Dalton, Cam Cook and Cannon Whatley.

The Packers took a three-game losing streak into Game 1 and trailed the Wildcats 2-1 before scoring three runs in the fifth inning and four more in the sixth.

Camden scored its final run in the top of the seventh.

Griffin started his memorable evening by lacing a triple to to lead off the bottom of the third.

He scored on a Cannon Whatley ground out and then was in the middle of both the fifth- and sixth-inning uprisings.

In the fifth, Davis Dalton led off with a single to center and Griffin followed with an infield hit to deep short.

Abe Daniels was hit by a pitch to load the bases.

Dalton scored when Whatley walked and Griffin scored when Davis Lightsey walked to put the Packers up 3-2.

Camden starter J.T. Farley struck out the next two batters with the bases still loaded, but then hit Miley with a hit that forced in the third run of the inning.

Griffin started the four-run sixth by getting a one-out infield hit.

Then, after Daniels fanned for the second out of the inning, the Packers reeled off a single by Whatley, a walk by Lightsey, a single by Cam Cook and a double by Moore to put the game out of reach.

Whatley drove in three runs for the Packers.

Cameron Summerlin started on the mound for the Packers in Game 1 and went the distance.

He gave up three runs, two earned, and four hits. He walked just one and struck out six.

Summerlin raised his record to 2-2.

Farley took the loss for Camden County despite striking out eight Packers in five innings.

Garrett Albright, who pitched the sixth, struck out three more batters.

Colquitt County starting catcher Cole Whatley did not play in either game while undergoing concussion protocols.

After the region doubleheader at Tift County, the Packers will return home to face Valdosta at 5:30 p.m. on Monday.

The Packers had dropped to 6-7 last Wednesday when they fell 5-1 at Lee County.

Colquitt managed just six hits, including a pair of doubles by Cannon Whatley.

Lightsey, Mason Moore, Griffin and Cayden Parker had the other three hits.

Parker drove in the lone Colquitt County run.

The Trojans scored a run in the first and added four more in the fourth as they raised their record to 8-5.

Tyler Owens and Adam Beverly combined to throw 2.2 innings of scoreless relief for the Packers.