CHICKAMAUGA, Ga. -- Can a baseball team break a collective slump by just having fun?
The Gordon Lee Trojans believe so, and they offer Thursday's 10-0 Region 7-AA win over Dade County as proof positive. Gordon Lee, which was state-ranked early in its first season in Class AA, entered the game 3-6 and trying to solve the mystery of its poor play.
Coach Mike Dunfee saw signs before the first pitch that the day after an extra-inning loss to Sylacauga, Ala., was going to be different.
"The guys had a little different attitude today," Dunfee said following the five-inning game in which his team out-hit the Wolverines 11-1. "This was a solid game with strong pitching, strong defense and big hits. I felt like before the game even started they were cutting up with each other, and that's big with this team. This team plays its best when they are loose and having some fun."
Leadoff man Tucker Bradley was the pacesetter of the fun brigade. He led off the bottom of the first inning with a single off Dade ace Josh Core, eventually scoring on a wild pitch as the Trojans took a 2-0 lead. Bradley made it 4-0 in the second with a two-run home run to right field. Like his coach, Bradley saw a different team in more ways than one.
Gordon Lee's Chaney Rogers pitches against Dade County Thursday, March 26, 2015, in Chickamauga. "We just decided to have fun today," he said. "We weren't playing for ourselves today, and it was a lot of fun to watch after what happened last night. We just needed some more games and to have a different attitude. I think we were just trying to do too much and we were pressing.
"We want to get in the playoffs, and once we get there we'll be rolling. I know I'm ready for it."
The Trojans added two runs in the third, which included Sean Coakley's RBI single, then made it 10-0 in the fourth against reliever Blake Lynn as Logan Peterson rapped a two-run double and Coakley added another RBI hit.
Sophomore lefty Chaney Rogers easily made the early runs stand up, allowing only Garrett Moore's fourth-inning single while striking out seven. He did have to work out of a couple of jams, including the fourth inning when the Wolverines had runners on third and second with one out before Rogers struck out Ethan Prince and Kendall Tripp to end the threat.
The win evens Gordon Lee's region record at 2-2 after an 0-2 start. With eight games left in league play, Dunfee knows there is little time to worry about what's happened to this point.
"We take full responsibility in going down 0-2 in the region, but now we've just got to accept the challenge ahead of us," Dunfee said. "I don't care what's happened in the past, it's the next day, the next game and the next practice that's important.
"Once they get going, I really believe our best baseball is yet to come."
Peterson and Jake Rogers joined Bradley and Coakley with two hits each.
Contact Lindsey Young at lyoung@timesfreepress.com or at 423-757-6296.