MILLEDGEVILLE, Ga. — On a near perfect day for baseball, the John Milledge Academy Trojans put together a solid performance in every phase of the game Monday afternoon.

The Trojans improved their record to 7-0 on the season with a 9-3 victory over the visiting Piedmont Academy Cougars.

Senior Cole Wilson was on the bump to start the game and got off to a bit of a shaky start by walking the leadoff batter. As it often does, the leadoff free pass hurt the Trojans as the runner later scored on a 6-3 fielders’ choice. With a runner on third and two outs Wilson got out of the jam by inducing the fifth Cougar batter into a harmless pop fly.

The top of the JMA lineup was sat down in order in the bottom of the first with a groundout and a pair of strikeouts, but the offense would not be kept at bay for long. Walks hurt Wilson again in the top of the second, but he again kept the damage to a minimum, as only one Piedmont runner would get across the plate. The scales began to tip in the Trojans’ favor in the bottom of the second inning. Wilson helped his own cause by getting a solid single to right field and was chased home after Peyton Massey smashed a double to left center. Jalen Beck kept the train going with a double of his own that scored Massey and would later cross the plate thanks to a single from sophomore Brandon Bellflower. All of this happened before a single out was recorded in the inning. John Milledge batted around and then some as six runs in total were put on the board to give the home team a 6-2 advantage after two innings.

Both Andrew Prestwood and Colton Brewer got their first game action on the mound in the 2017 season Monday. They pitched two innings apiece and only allowed one run, keeping the Trojan lead intact.

“[We welcomed] back Colton Brewer and Andrew Prestwood to the pitching mound,” JMA head coach Justin Mills said after the win. “Andrew being a basketball player we’ve kind of eased him back in. He’s had some shoulder issues, but he felt good today. Colton Brewer is recovering from an ACL injury from football and today was his first day back, so it was good to see those guys back.”

John Milledge tacked on one insurance run in the fifth and two more in the sixth thanks to three consecutive singles from Cody Rogers, Dawson Huff, and Wilson.

Trevor Evans came onto the mound to get some work in for the top of the seventh and sat the Cougars down in order to solidify the win.

“We played well – swung the bats well, played good defense, and pitched well,” Mills said. “We had four pitchers on the mound today, which is good to see a lot of arms on the mound and doing well. I love the positivity in the dugout and players encouraging each other and playing hard for each other.”

The Trojans travel to Augusta Prep to face the Cavaliers Thursday at 4:30 p.m., and will welcome those same Cavaliers to Milledgeville Friday afternoon for a 4 p.m. start.