The Mary Persons Diamond Dogs have gone on an offensive tear ever since they were swept by the defending state champs.
MP outscored their opponents 41-5 in 4 games against region opponents Peach County and Jackson. On Monday April 15, starting pitcher Ian Lewis easily handled the Jackson Red Devils on the road by going 6 innings giving up only 3 hits with 11 strikeouts as he and Nic Arnold combined to throw a 7-inning shutout.
Offensively, the Dogs slapped the ball all over the field with Cole Carr, Tristan Hunt, and Thomas Brooks (including his 5th inning homerun) all getting multiple hits in the game. Overall, the Dogs put up 9 runs on 10 hits for a final of 9-0.
On Wednesday April 12, MP hosted the playoff bound Peach County Trojans, which are locked in as the region’s No. 4 seed. In game one of the doubleheader, Cole Carr started and lasted 5 innings giving up 3 runs on 5 hits while striking out 2. Two of those runs were unearned as MP committed 4 errors in the game. Two of the errors and all three runs the Trojans scored came in the first inning and they would even sniff home plate. The Bulldogs then went to work putting up 4 runs in the second and fourth inning, two in the fifth, and three in the sixth as Ryan Jenkins hit a walk off 2-run double to invoke a mercy rule ending the game 13-3. MP tallied 12 hits with Carr and Jenkins both leading the way with three a piece.
After about a 30-minute break, game 2 of the evening featured standout pitcher Jake Grant on the mound. Grant pitched an impressive 2 hit complete game shutout while striking out 7 batters. Grant averaged under 12 pitches per inning with a 73% strike rate to get the job done. The Bulldogs scored in every inning of the game including a Ryan Jenkins 2-run homer to left field and for the second walk-off in the night a Ryan Causey 2-run bomb to left ending the game with a final where Mary Persons scored 10 runs on 10 hits compared to the Trojans 0 runs on 2 hits.
On Tuesday, April 11, the Bulldogs headed to Peach County for the first of a 3-game series. The Trojans got on the board early as starting pitcher Ian Lewis gave up 3 singles in a row before a sac fly was able to record the first out and the first run of the game. He then settled down over the next 5 innings giving up 1 additional unearned run in the 3rd inning and one other hit which was good enough for the win. A wild and ugly second inning for the Trojans put the game essentially out of reach. It started with a walk and an error followed by another walk which loaded the bases full of Bulldogs, they recorded the first out via strikeout. With 1 out and the bases juiced, Nic Arnold took one for the team with a full count and is awarded first base scoring MP’s first run. The Dogs went on top 2-0 as Tristan Hunt, who started with an 0-2 count, earned a walk on the next four pitches. Then came the blunders by the Trojans in the field. With the bases loaded and 1 out, Peach County was able to induce a ground ball right back to the pitcher who then threw the ball near second base which the fielder picked up and fired back toward home plate allowing two Bulldogs to score instead of firing the ball home for a force out and then to first for a potential inning-ending double play. That made it 4-1 Dawgs. The madness did not stop there however as on a 1-2 count to Brady Christman, the pitcher threw a wild pitch to the backstop enabling runners to advance to second and third. Shortly afterward Christman struck out swinging, but the ball once again went by the catcher allowing the batter to reach first base safely and scoring another run in the process without recording an out making it 5-0. After second base got swiped, and another run scored on another wild pitch, Ryan Causey hit a groundball to second that would finally record the second out of the inning. Then another error and another run scored making it a 7-run second inning. Finally Peach did get out of the inning with two Dogs striking out. Mary Persons tacked on another 2 runs in the 7th inning for a final of 9-2.
The Bulldogs are hosting the Jackson Red Devils for a doubleheader on Tuesday April 18 before the final seedings are determined for the playoffs that start Monday April 24. The Bulldogs will either be a two-seed or three-seed depending on the outcome of Tuesday's doubleheader against Jackson and the doubleheader between Upson-Lee and Pike County as Upson-Lee upset Pike 4-3 on Monday night. Region 2 is set to play Region 1 this year which will not be settled until Wednesday Night.
