MOULTRIE- The Colquitt County baseball team avenged its season-opening loss to Ware County by defeating the Gators 8-3 on Wednesday in Waycross.
And it was the combination of timely hitting by senior Brady DeRosso and a solid pitching effort by younger brother Bowen, a sophomore, that did the trick.
Brady went 3-for-4 with a triple and two runs batted in to back Bowen’s six-inning outing in which he gave up just one earned run.
The Packers have now won three of their last four games and, at 3-4, can get to .500 when they play host to Chiles High at 6 p.m. Thursday at Packer Park.
The Timberwolves are 3-4, including a 5-0 loss at Lowndes on Tuesday.
Colquitt opened the season by squandering a 4-1 lead and losing to Ware 10-4 on Ike Aultman Field at Jerry Croft Stadium.
That was followed by a pair of losses to Wayne County and Jeff Davis in Hazlehurst, before the Packers began playing better over the last week with wins over Cook, Florida Christian and Ware.
As they did in the season-opener, the Packers again scored four runs in the first two innings on Wednesday.
Brady DeRosso got the Packers going in the first inning with a one-out single.
He proceeded to steal second and third and scored the first run on a throwing error by the Ware County catcher.
Adam Beverly then singled and Bowen drew a walk.
After Jake Walker was retired on an infield fly, Bryce Roberts singled to center to score Beverly and give the Packers a 2-0 lead.
Colquitt scored two more in the second inning, which started with Rylan Howell being hit by a pitch.
Hayden Hembree singled Howell to third and Brady DeRosso drove in the third Packers run with a base hit to right field.
A Bowen DeRosso single made it 4-0 Packers.
Howell’s single driving in Roberts in the third inning extended the Packers lead to 5-0.
Ware got its first run in the fourth inning, but the Packers countered with two more in the top of the sixth.
Brady DeRosso followed a single by Hembree with a triple to right to give the Packers a 6-1 lead.
Beverly grounded out scoring DeRosso and the Packers led 7-1.
The Gators got their second run in the bottom of the sixth, but Colquitt matched it in the top of the seventh when Roberts got his second of his two base hits.
Gabe Eubanks ran for him and scored the Packers final run on a Ware County error.
Bowen DeRosso allowed seven hits and walked just one over the first six innings.
Roberts pitched the bottom of the seventh and surrendered the final Ware County run.
In addition to Brady DeRosso’s three-hit performance, Roberts and Hembree each had two hits.
Bowen DeRosso, Beverly, Penuel and Howell each had one.
The loss was the first for the Gators, who had won seven straight games to start the season.
Colquitt also will be at Packer Park on Saturday for a 1 p.m. game against Buchholz High of Gainesville, Fla.
The Bobcats are 5-0.