Jeff Davis defeated Rockmart 2-0 in the decisive Game 3 of the Class AA finals on Wednesday at Historic Luther Williams Field in Macon to take home the program’s second state title in the past three seasons. Hamp Hayes batted in a Yellow Jackets run in the bottom of the third inning. Rockmart put two runners on in the top of the fifth inning, but Garrison Miles escaped the jam and Jeff Davis added an insurance run in the bottom of the sixth inning before closing out the shutout. Rockmart took Game 1 of the series 4-1 and Jeff Davis extended the series with a 4-2 win in the backend of Monday’s double-header.
In Class A-Public, Gordon Lee defeated Schley County 9-3 at Grayson Stadium in Savannah to defend its state title. The Trojans won the opening game 2-0 on Monday, but Schley County took Game 2 (3-2) and snapped Gordon Lee’s 18-game winning streak in the process. Schley County, which was looking to win its third state title since 2015, opened up a 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning. Gordon Lee answered with a four-run effort in the bottom of the frame and then added three runs in the second inning and two in the bottom of the third to grow a commanding 9-1 lead. The teams traded three scoreless innings before Schley County added a pair of runs in the top of the seventh.
Class AAAAAA
In addition to the pair of Game 3’s played on Wednesday, two-time defending state champion Pope and Heritage-Conyers met at State Mutual Stadium in Rome to start their best of three series. Coastal Carolina-bound senior Griffin Holcombe shook off a two-run bottom of the first inning and held the Greyhounds scoreless through the next six innings to lead the Patriots to a 7-2 victory. Heritage-Conyers cut the deficit to 2-1 in the top of the third inning and grabbed the lead during four-run effort in the top of the fourth. The Patriots added an insurance run in the top of the fifth to make it 7-2 before Holcombe closed out the complete-game victory.
Pope put up two runs in the first inning again in Game 2, and forced a Game 3 for the fifth straight time this postseason. The Greyhounds added to the 2-0 lead immediately with four runs in the top of the second to increase the lead to 6-0 and a 3-run third inning put Pope up 9-0. Pope added two runs to lead 11-0 and Heritage-Conyers’ lone run in the bottom of the frame ended Game 2 short (11-1). Heritage-Conyers will look for its first-ever state title in Game 3 on Thursday and Pope will be going for the first successful three-peat since Columbus did it in Class AAA (2010-12).
