Gordon Lee takes advantage

photo Gordon Lee's Bay Wright slides safely into second ahead of a throw to Christian Heritage second baseman Nich Bartley Friday at Christian Heritage School in Dalton, Ga.

DALTON, Ga. - On the surface it appears the Gordon Lee High School baseball team is the reincarnation of the 1927 Yankees. Scoring 10 runs a game through nine games will open a few eyes, but in the Trojans' case the looks are a bit deceiving.

Friday's 14-0 win at Region 6-A foe Christian Heritage is a good example of how the Trojans (8-1) are putting up such prolific numbers. In scoring at least 14 runs for the fourth time in five games, Gordon Lee had nine singles among its 11 hits, but the little things added up.

Gordon Lee also benefited from eight walks, two RBI hit batsmen and six Lions errors in improving to 2-1 in league play. The pressure of constant baserunners was too much for the first-year GHSA program to handle.

"We've got an experienced group and they are disciplined at the plate," Gordon Lee coach Mike Dunfee explained. "They're good hitters and they make adjustments, like they did today after the first inning. We've got some speed and it creates some havoc defensively, and it seemed to today."

Christian Heritage pitcher Brady Souther sat the Trojans down in order in the first inning on six pitches. Gordon Lee, after a reminder by Dunfee to be patient, batted around in the second, scoring four runs on two hits, two errors and three walks.

The Trojans sent six batters to the plate in the fourth, scoring just once, and had eight batters in the fifth in getting two more runs. They put the game away in a marathon sixth inning in which 13 batters came to the plate, seven scoring on just four hits.

Among the highlights were two hits each from Conner Coakley, Bay Wright and Jake Rogers, with Branton Phillips and Rogers each scoring three runs and Daniel Brooks driving in three. No. 9 batter Cody Wilson had two RBIs and scored twice.

Sophomore right-hander Conard Broome was the recipient of the runs in improving to 3-1. He allowed just two hits and struck out 10 one start after a rare off night in a 7-6 loss to Darlington.

"Conard tonight was the Conard of last year, all knees and shins and filling up the strke zone," Dunfee said. "At Darlington it just wasn't him, so it's nice to see him get the groove back. This is a nice region win for us."

Broome baffled the Lions (4-5, 2-2) with his sinking sidearm delivery and consistently worked the outside of the plate.

"My arm felt a lot better today, and the team did a great job of getting early runs," he said. "This warm weather helps me a lot, and it seems to help our bats, too. It's awesome watching this lineup because I know they're always going to get me runs."

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