A seven-run eruption in its last at bat sealed Gilmer’s baseball victory.
The GHS Bobcats continued their nonregion schedule last Thursday at Armuchee, and senior pitcher Ethan McCollum tossed a one hitter to quell the Indians’ bats. Armuchee’s shaky defense spotted GHS six runs, and the Bobcats earned their fifth win of the season, 12-0.
Head coach Jeff Thurman noted that “throwing strikes” was emphasized ahead of the game.
“With any pitcher we have, their job is to make them swing the bat, and we’ll do our best to play good defense,” Thurman said. “You could tell that’s what Ethan set out to do. As a result, he got to stay late in the game because he had great command and didn’t walk (three) a lot. That was one of the better defensive games I’ve seen us play in a while.”
Gilmer collected five hits on the day, and four Indian errors proved costly. Hayden Berry led Gilmer with two hits, and he launched a two-run homer over the left-center field fence in the second inning. Austin Zabala got the third inning going when he reached base on an Armuchee defensive mishap. He trotted home when Noah Gutillo flew out to center.
Another Indian error set the stage in the sixth, and Eli Cooper stood at first base. Gutillo walked, and Gilmer’s lead stood at 4-0 when Dalton Crisp grounded out. McCollum’s single to center gave him a five-run cushion.
Indian pitchers also dealt with control issues and dealt six walks, and the final two came in the seventh. Armuchee also hit McCollum and Crisp with the bases loaded. Cooper and Berry both recorded RBI singles, and Haden West had a hit as well. Two more AHS errors plated two more runs, and Gilmer’s lead stood at 12.
McCollum struck out two more Indians in the seventh to bring his total to six. He also walked and hit a batter, and Crisp took the mound to get the final out of the game.
“Ethan got a couple outs in the seventh, but we ended up pulling him. Overall, it was a real good game for us. We were really proud of Berry’s performance at the plate. It was huge for us, and Eli did a great job on the base paths (with two stolen bases).
“The score wasn’t really indicative of how close the game was throughout. Then in the seventh we had a real big inning, and I was just proud of our team effort.”
GHS is 5-3 overall and traveled to Union County at press deadline.