Diamond Pack tops Cats; Moore pitches no-hitter

Published 3:56 pm Monday, April 3, 2023

MOULTRIE, Ga. — Colquitt County got a no-hitter from Mason Moore to win the first game of its Region 1-7A doubleheader at Valdosta on Friday 3-0, but dropped the nightcap 3-2.

Along with Tuesday’s 4-1 victory, the Packers took the three-game series with the Wildcats and are now 10-11 overall and 4-5 in the region.

After salvaging the third game against the Packers, Valdosta is 13-8 overall and 4-2 in the region.

Lowndes, which did not play a region series last week, still sits atop the region with a 6-0 record.

The Packers do not have any region games next week and will conclude region play with a three-game series with Richmond Hill starting with a road game on April 11.

Colquitt’s region schedule will finish with a home doubleheader against Richmond Hill on Friday, April 14.

The Packers are still trying to finish first or second in the region and earn a first-round state playoff series.

Last week, Lowndes scored 33 runs in a three-game sweep of Colquitt County.

But in the first game on Friday, Moore made sure Valdosta had no runs — and no hits — in the Packers’ victory over the Wildcats.

The no-hitter is the first for Colquitt County since Ethan Phillips held McEachern hitless in a 6-0 victory in Game 2 of a first-round doubleheader in the 2017 state playoffs.

Like Moore, Phillips was a junior when he threw his no-hitter.

Moore walked five batters, including two in the bottom of the seventh when Valdosta brought the potential game-tying run to the plate.

But the left-hander struck out the final two Wildcats to complete the rare no-hitter.

Colquitt County got what proved to be the only run it would need in the first inning when Neko Fann opened the game with a single and scored on a Cam Cook base hit.

The Packers’ lead remained one run until Cook’s two-out double in the top of the seventh drove in a pair of runs to give the Packers some insurance.

It was insurance that Colquitt would not need.

The Packers had six hits and Cook had three of them and drove in all three Colquitt County runs.

Fann had two singles and Jake Walker added a double.

Valdosta scored first in the second game when Cohen Smith stroked a two-run single in the bottom of the third off Packers starter Christian Hill.

The 2-0 Valdosta lead stood until the top of the sixth when the Packers tied the game.

After Fann and Landon Griffin walked to open the inning, Moore sacrificed the runners to second and third and Cook singled to drive in both runners.

Cook finished the doubleheader by driving in all five Colquitt County runs.

The tie did not survive the bottom of the inning, however.

Valdosta’s Isaiah Haygood opened the sixth with a single and stole second.

He scored the go-ahead run on a sacrifice by Colson Moody.

Smith, the Valdosta starter, set the Packers down in order in the top of the seventh to close out the win.

The Wildcats earned the split despite having just two hits in the two games.

Hill was the tough-luck losing pitcher in the second game.

He gave up all three runs, only two of which were earned, and the singles to Haygood and Smith.

Hill walked four and struck out eight.

The Packers managed just three hits, singles by Fann, Cook and Adam Beverly.

When the Colquitt County took the field against Valdosta last Wednesday, it was natural to wonder how the Packers would react to having been outscored 33-0 in three region games against Lowndes last week.

The Packers answered decisively in the first inning when starter Jaxon Chambers retired the Wildcats in order on three groundouts and Neko Fann hit the first pitch in the bottom of the first for a double and went on to score the team’s first run in 17 innings.

Colquitt added three more runs and rode the strong pitching of Chambers and Cole Holder to beat the Wildcats 4-1 and get its region record up to 3-4 heading into Friday’s region doubleheader at Valdosta.

“We played clean baseball tonight,” Packers coach Brandon Brock said. “You know, if you take care of the baseball and don’t walk a lot of people, you’ll be fine.

“And Valdosta’s a good little team. We beat a team that was 3-0 in the region.”

Chambers went the first four innings and gave up just the single run in the top of the third.

He retired the final five batters he faced.

“It was his first start and he did well,” Brock said. “He had a few rough patches, but he didn’t let things turn into a big inning.

“You avoid a big inning, most times you’re good.”Chambers gave up just one hit over those four innings before turning the game — and a 2-1 lead — over to Holder, a sophomore making his first varsity appearance.

The big right-hander threw three scoreless innings to get the save. He gave up a pair of singles and two walks, but pitched out of trouble each inning.

A 5-4-3 double play started by Adam Beverly in the seventh after the first Wildcat reached on an error helped Holder nail down the win that raised the Packers’s record to 9-10.

“I told him to be ready and that his time would come,” Brock said. “I was just so proud of his tempo and his demeanor.”

And the Packers used some timely hitting to get back in the win column.

Fann scored in the bottom of the first on a throwing error and after Valdosta tied the game in the third, the Packers quickly regained the lead in the bottom of the inning.

Fann was hit by a pitch to start the inning. He then stole second base and scored on a single by Landon Griffin.

After moving to second on the throw to the plate to try to catch Fann, Griffin went to third on a wild pitch and scored on Mason Moore’s base hit to put the Packers up 3-1.

Moore walked to open the bottom of the fifth and scored the Packers final run on Brady DeRosso’s two-out single.

The Packers managed just six hits, but they made them count while backing up the strong work on the mound by Chambers and Holder.

Brock said his team was upbeat despite having lost three in a row.

“Maybe last week was good for us in the grand scheme of things, even though it sure didn’t feel like it at the time,” he said.

Brock repeated an observation made by Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts after his team was defeated 38-35 by the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl LVII last January.

Hurts said, “You either win or you learn.”

“I’m hoping we did,” Brock said.

On Wednesday, Thomas County Central will visit for a AAA/varsity doubleheader beginning at noon. The varsity game is expected to start around 2:45 p.m.

Calhoun High will visit on Thursday, April 6. First pitch will be at 4 p.m.

The Packers will travel to Douglas to meet Coffee High at 6 p.m. Friday and will close out the non-region part of its schedule when they play the fourth day in a row, a home game against Lincoln High on Saturday.

It will be the second game of a AAA/varsity doubleheader starting at 11 a.m. The varsity game is expected to start at about 1:45 p.m.