The Gilmer Bobcats secured three much-needed region baseball wins last week.
GHS faced the West Hall Spartans for the weekly series, and Thursday’s home game was sandwiched between a pair of road trips Monday and Friday.
Gilmer had to rally for the first two wins. The Cats took game one 12-9, which snapped a seven-game losing streak and matched the number of combined runs Gilmer scored in those losses.
The Bobcats roared back for a 9-8 victory in game two before they flipped the script Friday. GHS built a healthy five-run cushion and held on for a 6-5 win.
“There were a lot of runs scored, and it was one of those situations where if anything could have happened, it did,” said GHS head coach Jeff Thurman. “We were playing from behind in the first two games, and in the late innings, we were able to tie it up then go ahead. I’m proud of our kids for battling back and coming from behind. It would have been really easy to get down but they didn’t.
“We got a lead Friday and were leading that whole game. Then we let them scratch their way back into it. Fortunately for us, with runners at second and third base with two outs in the seventh, Carter Jones was able to close out the game.”
There were runs scored in every inning of game one except the fourth. Both teams had nine hits, and GHS fell behind 3-1 after the first. Gilmer responded with four runs in the second. One scored on an error, Billy Goswick came home on a passed ball, and two more crossed home plate on Grant Cochran’s two-out single.
The Spartans answered with a run in the third and five more in the fifth inning to open a 9-5 edge, but it marked the end of their offense for the night.
An error and passed ball plated two runs for GHS in the sixth. Blake Zabala and Austin Zabala each singled home a run to tie the score, 9-9.
Gilmer pulled ahead in the seventh on a passed ball. Branson Teague’s double scored Goswick and Jones to cement the three-run win.
Teague, Cochran and Blake Zabala all drove in two runs and Jones recorded one RBI. Five runs were unearned. GHS pitching: Ethan McCollum 4 1/3 IP, 7 H, 7 ER, 6 K, 2 BB. Jones (W), 1 2/3 IP. Cochran 1 IP, 1 H, 2 K.
WHHS plated a pair of unearned runs in the first inning Thursday. GHS tied the score in its at-bat when McCollum drove home Teague and Austin Zabala. GHS slipped ahead 3-2 on a Spartan error.
West Hall added a run in the second and four in the third for a 7-3 advantage. That lead disappeared in the fourth. Teague and Cochran both knocked in a run and two more scored on a Spartan error.
WHHS plated a run in the fifth, and GHS did the same when Eli Cooper’s single to right scored Jones. With the score 8-8 in the sixth, Gilmer took the lead on a Jones base hit to center.
The Spartans advanced runners to second and third in the seventh, but pitcher Seth Darling and the defense ended the threat.
Teague, Austin Zabala and Cooper all had two hits for the Cats. GHS pitching: Cochran 4 IP, 3 ER, 7 K, 1 BB. A. Zabala (W), 2 IP, 1H, 1 ER, 4 K, 1 BB. Darling 1 IP, 1 K, 2 BB.
It was West Hall who played from behind in game three. Darling took the mound for GHS and struck out 13 to claim the win.
Austin Zabala grounded out to score a run in the first inning to get the offense going.
WHHS committed four errors on the day and three came in the third inning. The third defensive miscue accounted for Gilmer’s second run and also loaded the bases. McCollum’s ensuing double to center scored two. Austin Zabala trotted home when Noah Gutillo flew out, and Gilmer’s lead stood at 5-0.
WHHS scored a run in the fourth, and GHS did the same in the fifth when McCollum tagged up on a Jones fly ball.
Behind 6-1, WHHS started its comeback with three runs in the sixth inning. They drew within a run in the seventh but the comeback was cut short.
Cochran and McCollum each had a multihit day with two. GHS pitching: Darling (W), 5 2/3 IP, 5 H, 4ER, 13 K, 1 BB. Jones 1 1/3 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 4 K, 2 BB.
“It was a tight series, and we feel fortunate to come out and win all three,” Thurman said. “We never really played our best game, but we were always able to do enough and found plays when we needed to whether it was a hit or a defensive play or making the right pitch at a crucial time. We did those things when we needed it most even though we did not play up to what I believe is our full capabilities.”
GHS is 8-9 overall and lost to White County Monday, 11-1. Game two will be in Ellijay Wednesday and the series will conclude Friday in White County.