Wildcats shut out Manchester behind Fuller’s no hitter
Published 6:41 pm Saturday, March 18, 2023
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ELLAVILLE – On a wet, rainy and soggy Friday afternoon in Ellaville, Schley County (SCHS) pitcher Brody Fuller tossed the Wildcats’ second no hitter in three days and led SCHS to a 7-0 victory over the Manchester Blue Devils (MHS) at Wildcat Park.
The win puts the Wildcats at 9-4 overall on the season and they are still undefeated and in first place in the Class A D2 Region 6 standings at 4-0. The game had been scheduled for 5:30 pm on Friday, but was moved up to 4 p.m. to beat the impending bad weather.
“I’m really proud of Brody Fuller,” SCHS Head Coach Chuck Cheek said. “He kept throwing strikes in the rain. Their guys did a good job and made plays defensively. They are a much improved Manchester team and we found a way to scratch.”
Fuller was totally on point in this game. He pitched five scoreless innings of no hit ball and posted 10 strikeouts while walking two batters.
The Wildcats jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the third inning. With one out, Ashton Raybon jacked a solo home run over the left field wall. After Jack Clark was able to draw a walk off MHS starting pitcher Jack Underwood, SCHS courtesy runner Sam Forehand stole both second and third base and then scored on an error.
SCHS added another run in the bottom of the fourth. Rylan Conner led off the frame by drawing a walk and Jay Kanazawa followed that up with a single. Later on with two outs, Raybon reached on an error that allowed Conner to score, giving SCHS a 2-0 lead.
However, the Wildcats were able to put the game away in the bottom of the fifth by scoring four runs on three hits and took advantage of an error and a walk by the Blue Devils. Owen Lamb led off the frame by reaching on that error and Trenton Stubbs followed with a single to center field. Then Brody Smith came threw with a two-run double to give SCHS a 5-0 lead.
However, the Wildcats still weren’t done. Later on in the inning with runners at second and third with two outs, Carson Westbrook put the finishing touches on a dominating performance by SCHS when he drove in two more runs on an RBI single to right field. At that point, being that the rain was intensifying, the umpires decided to call the game and the Wildcats left a soggy and rainy Wildcat Park with a 7-0 victory over MHS.
Trenton Stubbs went 2 for 2 at the plate with a double and a run scored and Westbrook went 2 for 4 with two RBIs for SCHS.