ELLAVILLE – The Schley County Wildcat baseball team, fresh off an 11-0 shutout of Taylor County on Tuesday, April 10, had no trouble with Mount De Sales. They swept the Cavaliers in a doubleheader 11-6 and 7-1 on Wednesday, April 11 at Schley County High School.

In the first game, the wildcats scored six runs on four hits in the bottom of the first, including a two-run home run by Dylan Taylor. In the bottom of the second, Schley County scored three more runs on two hits, including a two-run home run by Chance Hollomon. The Wildcats took advantage of two hit batsmen and an error on the Cavaliers’ shortstop in the second inning.

At that point, Schley County led 9-0. The Wildcats added two more runs in their half of the third. Garrett Peavy led off with a single and Jordan Hall hit into a fielder’s choice. However, Hollomon singled, advancing Hall to second. Camron Vanlerberghe drew a walk, loading the bases for Wade Law. Law flew out, but the ball wasn’t deep enough to score the run. However, Ashton Goodin doubled, driving in Hall and courtesy runner Logan Wurtz to make the score 11-0 Schley County. The game had the appearance of being another route for the Wildcats and not lasting the full seven innings.

However, the Cavaliers had other ideas. They scored two runs in the top of the fourth. Jackson Taylor led off the inning with a single and advanced on an error. Carson Riley then drew a walk, then Rosman Diaz singled. Landon Jernigan then singled, driving in a run. Micah Hattaway then hit into a double play, but another run scored on the play.

Mount De Sales scored two more runs in the fifth and two in the top of the seventh, but the Wildcats were able to hold on and win the first game 11-6.

In Game 2, the things started off well for the Wildcats. In the second game, they were the “away” team, allowing them to bat first. This enabled them to jump on the Cavaliers early and set the tone for the rest of the game. The Wildcats went in order in the top of the first against Mount De Sales starter Jackson Nebel. However, Schley County starter Ashton Goodin returned the favor, retiring in order the first three batters, all on ground outs.

The Wildcats scored two runs in the top of the second. Ashton Goodin led off the inning with a double. Cameron Belcher then reached on an error and stole second. Goodin advanced to third on the error, then scored on a wild pitch, and Belcher advanced to third. Dylan Taylor then hit a sacrifice fly, scoring belcher to give the Wildcats and early 2-0 lead.

The Wildcats had a chance to add to their lead in the top of the third. With one out, Chance Hollomon singled. After Camron Vanlerberghe flew out, Wade Law singled, advancing courtesy runner Michael Wainright to second. However, Ashton Goodin struck out to end the inning. The Wildcats added two more runs in the fourth. With one out, Dylan Taylor singled, followed by a single by Garrett Peavy. Dakota Albritton hit into a fielder’s choice, advancing Taylor to third. Then Jordan Hall hit a double. Driving in Taylor and Albritton and giving Schley County a 4-0 lead.

Through four innings. Ashton Goodin was dominate. He allowed no runs on one hit. He had walked only one batter and struck out two. Goodin ended up pitching the whole game. He gave up one run on two hits. He walked two batters and struck out six. “Ashton did a great job for us. He got ahead in the count,” Schley County head coach Chuck Cheek said. “They (Mount De Sales) had a guy that was really good on the mound. He was their ace. After the fifth inning, Ashton is sitting at 48 pitches and their guy was at 80. We knew that we were about to get him out of the game, but Jordan Hall came up with a huge two-out double and drove in two runs to give us a 4-0 lead. With the way Ashton was pitching, we felt like that was probably enough to make it stand up.”

The Wildcats scored two more runs in the top of the fifth inning as Dylan Taylor singled in an RBI and Garrett Peavy drove in an RBI on a sacrifice fly. The Cavaliers got their only run of the game in the bottom of the fifth inning. Micah Hattaway led off with a single, and Goodin uncharacteristically hit the next two batters. Then Walker Schofield singled to drive in Hattaway. However, Goodin regained his composure by striking out Jackson Taylor and getting Carson Riley to ground out to end the inning. That would be the only offensive threat the Cavaliers would mount the rest of the way.

Schley County got their seventh and final run of the game in the top of the seventh. Goodin led off the inning with a walk, and Ricky White came in as a courtesy runner for Goodin. Cameron Belcher flew out and Dylan Taylor struck out. However, Peavy singled, driving in White for the final run of the game. Goodin retired the Cavaliers in order in the bottom of the seventh to seal the 7-1 win for the Wildcats.

Coach Cheek was not only pleased with his team’s offense output, but their defensive effort as well. “We played great defense. Dylan Taylor did a great job at shortstop tonight. All of our guys did a really good job defensively,” Cheek said.

In game one, the Wildcats scored 11 runs on 10 hits and committed three errors, while Mount DeSales scored six runs on 10 hits and committed five errors. Chance Hollomon had a terrific first game, going 3-for-4 with a two-run home run. Jordan Hall also had a solid first game, going 2-for-3 and scoring three runs. “In the first game, we really swung the sticks well the first three innings,” Cheek said. “We built a little lead and we went flat after that. I was a little frustrated. Our pitchers didn’t make their best pitches. With some 0-2 and 1-2 counts, we gave up some cheap hits we probably shouldn’t have. I didn’t think that we finished that game really well. We had a great game last night (Tuesday, April 10) at Taylor County, probably one of the best games we’ve played this year. We were hoping to build on that. The first three innings, we did that. I didn’t like how we weren’t able to put that game away.”

Though he was disappointed how his team closed out the first game against Mount De Sales, Coach Cheek was pleased with how the second game went. “The second game, we came out against a really good pitcher and played pretty good baseball,” Cheek said. “We’re headed towards the playoffs. I like the momentum that we’re building.”

In Game 1, Trent Bivins got the win. He pitched four innings, giving up four runs on five hits. He walked three and struck out four. In Game 2, Dylan Taylor went 2-for-3, drove in two RBIs and scored a run. Garrett Peavy also had a solid second game. He went 2-for-2 with an RBI. Overall, the Wildcats scored seven runs on 11 hits and committed one error in Game 2, while Mount De Sales scored one run on two hits and committed two errors.

Schley County is now 17-2 overall and 10-1 in region play. They travel to Columbus on Friday, April 13, to take on St. Anne-Pacelli. First pitch is scheduled for 6 p.m.