Colquitt baseball team sweeps Harrison, advances to second round

Published 12:00 am Thursday, April 28, 2022

MOULTRIE — Colquitt County allowed visiting Harrison High just five hits over two games in their first-round GHSA Class 7A doubleheader at Packer Park on Wednesday to get a sweep and earn a trip to second round.

And as the Packers celebrated their 6-3 and 9-2 victories over the Region 3 Hoyas, they also knew there was still a chance they could return to play next Tuesday on Ike Aultman Field at Jerry Croft Stadium.

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The Packers will meet the survivor of the Alpharetta-Dunwoody series that will be decided on Thursday after those two teams split on Wednesday.

If Alpharetta, the No. 4 team from Region 5, can win on Thursday, the Raiders’ second-round series with the Packers will be held in Moultrie.

If Dunwoody, the Region 7 champion, wins, the Packers will travel to meet the Wildcats in DeKalb County.

Region 1 champion Lowndes also swept its first-round doubleheader on Wednesday, defeating North Paulding 3-1 and 7-0.

No. 3 Camden County and No. 4 Tift County were eliminated.

Camden lost to North Cobb 13-3 and 8-5.

The Blue Devils were no-hit in an 8-0 loss in their first game at Walton and then dropped the second game 5-1.

At Packer Park, Colquitt County led 6-1 heading into the seventh inning of Game 1, when the Hoyas scored their final two runs.

Bryce Monk came in relief and walked a pair of Hoyas before getting the final two outs.

Monk relieved starter Cameron Summerlin, who walked the first two batters he faced in the seventh.

Summerlin then struck out Harrison’s Craig Kalkbrenner, before handing the game over the Monk.

Summerlin turned in what might have been his most impressive outing of the season.

The senior right-hander gave up a hit and a run in the first inning, then was in command until the seventh.

He allowed just two singles and two walks while striking out eight over the first six innings.

The Packers scored a pair of runs in the bottom of the first inning after Cannon Whatley led off with a single and scored on an error.

They never trailed again.

After adding a solo run in the fourth that scored on a throwing error, the Packers tacked on three runs in the bottom of the sixth.

Davis Dalton and Landon Griffin opened the inning with infield singles and Abraham Daniels was hit by a pitch to lead the bases with none out.

Cannon Whatley drove in Dalton with a rare infield sacrifice fly out and one out later, Cam Cook rifled a double to center to score Griffin and Daniels and give the Packers a 6-1 lead.

After Monk put out the fire in the top of the seventh, the Packers needed only to win the second game or Wednesday’s “if” game to advance.

The Packers had 10 hits in Game 1, including two each by Dalton and Lightsey.

Cook, Daniels, Griffin, Mason Moore, Cannon Whatley and Cole Whatley had the others.

Game 2 was close for five innings with the Packers trailing 2-1 before scoring six times in the sixth and twice more in the seventh.

The Packers first run came on a two-out single by Daniels in the second inning, but Harrison scored a pair of runs  in the fourth on a walk, an bunt single, a hit batsman and a pair of back-to-back sacrifice flies to Griffin in left field.

But Colquitt sent 10 batters to the plate in the sixth to put the game away.

Griffin and Daniels walked to open the inning and Griffin scored on Cannon Whatley’s bloop single to tie the game at 2-2.

Lightsey also drew a base on balls to load the bases and Cook followed with a two-run single up the middle to give the Packers a 4-2 lead.

Cole Whatley’s double drove in two more runs and Chasyn Miley’s single driving in Cole Whatley closed out the scoring in the sixth.

Lightsey’s two-run double driving in Daniels and Cannon Whatley in the top of the seventh made it 9-2.

Monk, pitching in relief of starter Mason Moore, held the Hoyas scoreless in the bottom of the seventh to send the Packers to the second round.

Cannon Whatley had four of the Packers’ 11 second-game hits.

Moore started on the mound in Game 2 and went the first five innings, giving up two runs and three hits while striking out five. He walked three.

Monk pitched the final two innings. He gave up the final Harrison hit, walked three and hit a batter, but struck out three, including Jack Fleming to end it.

The Packers will take a 16-14 overall record into the second-round series.

Harrison finishes 17-14 in coach Mark Elkins’s final season as head coach.

The Georgia Dugout Club Hall of Fame member won 470 games and a state championship in 2010 in his time at Harrison.