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THOMASTON – No matter how hard they tried, the Schley County Wildcats (SCHS) could not solve the pitching dominance of Upson-Lee (ULHS) starting pitcher Jackson Blakely. Blakely shut out the Wildcats over six innings of work, giving up just two hits and striking out 11 in the Knights’ 8-1 victory over SCHS.

The loss puts the Wildcats at 7-4 overall on the season and they are 2-0 in the Class A Division 2 Region 6 standings.

In the bottom of the third inning, the Knights ended the 0-0 deadlock between both teams by scoring four runs on three hits and they took advantage of an error and a walk. What made it worse for the Wildcats was that all of this took place after SCHS recorded two outs.

In the bottom of the fourth inning, the Knights once again scored with two outs already in the books. With runners at second and third with two outs, Beau Ellington drove in a run on an RBI single to centerfield. Then the Knights added a run in the fifth and two more in the sixth to take an 8-0 lead.

The Wildcats tried to chip away in the top of the seventh against Ellington, who came on in relief of Blakely. With two outs, Sam Forehand drew a walk and Jay Kanazawa followed that up with a single. Brody Smith then drove in the Wildcats’ only run of the game on an RBI single, but Ellington was able to strikeout Brody Fuller to end the game.

Brody Smith and Trenton Stubbs were the only Wildcats to come up with hits in the game. Smith had one RBI and Stubbs scored the Wildcats’ only run.

Ashton Raybon got the start on the mound for SCHS. In 3.1 innings of work, Raybon gave up five runs on four hits, walked one batter and struck out five. Brody Smith came on in relief of Raybon. In a little over two innings of work, Smith gave up three runs on seven hits and posted one strikeout.

The Wildcats will try to rebound when they travel to Preston, GA to take on Webster County on Tuesday, March 14. First pitch is scheduled for 4:30 p.m.