By MICHAEL MURRAY

The Schley County Wildcats have gotten off to a fiery start to their 2017 baseball season, earning a trio of wins in their initial three match-ups.
The Wildcats kicked off the season on Feb. 10 with a pre-season match-up against Cook County, dealing the Hornets a 6-0 defeat. The Wildcats then hit the road for Milledgeville on Feb. 16 to face the Georgia Military College (GMC) Bulldogs. The Wildcats earned another shutout win in this test, 12-0.
Schley’s boys then traveled to Cordele on Feb. 17 to ride their wave of momentum into a 16-5 victory over the Crisp County Cougars. The team faced Mt. De Sales Academy on Feb. 21 in Macon. The results of this contest were not available at press time.
As of this writing, the Wildcats enjoy an overall record of 2-0.
In their preseason match-up against Cook County, the Wildcats opened the scoring in the first frame and tacked on another run in the second. The ‘Cats carefully guarded their lead throughout the ensuing three frames. Eventually, in the sixth and final inning of the game, Schley sparked a rally and added four more runs to their tally to put the game away.
Schley team members, Jake Hall and Will Barry, led the team from the batter’s box with two hits apiece. Wade Law contributed two RBIs while Chase Patrick and Reid Ragsdale each brought in one runner.
Barry struck out four Cook batters while pitching for the Wildcats. Clint Sellars and Patrick each dispatched three.
The Wildcats immediately began preparations for their official season opener against GMC in Milledgeville.
The ‘Cats got the jump on the Bulldogs early, plating four runners in the top of the first inning. The Schley squad went on to hold GMC scoreless as they added two more runs in the third inning and exploded for six runs in the fifth inning, eventually clinching the 12-0 shutout win.
Sellars connected on three hits in the season curtain-raiser, followed by Cameron Belcher, with two, and Dakota Knight, with one. Sellars also led the team in RBIs, plating three runners.
Sellars opened the game for the Wildcats on the mound, hurling three innings and striking out two batters before ceding the mound to Chance Holloman, who closed out the game. Holloman sent three potential hitters back to the dugout in two innings of work.
Once again, on Feb. 17, the Wildcats got off to a hot start when they put their skills to the test against Crisp County.
Schley brought in four runs in top of the initial inning before the Cougars responded with three in the bottom of the second. The ‘Cats added another and Crisp tied the score 5-5 after returning to the dugout.
From there, the Wildcats held the Cougars scoreless while scoring two runs in the fourth, six in the fifth, and three in the sixth to earn the 11-run victory.
Sellars, again, led the team’s batters with three hits in the match, followed by Ragsdale and Hall, who each connected on two. Hall brought in four RBIS for the Schley cause while Law and Sellars both added three.
Barry did four innings’ worth of work on the mound and struck out eight batters before turning over pitching duties to Sellars, who closed out the game. Sellars dispatched three batters.
The Wildcats will return to the diamond on Feb. 24, hosting Hawkinsville before traveling to Macon County to face the Bulldogs on Feb. 28.