CHICKAMAUGA, Ga. -- The Gordon Lee baseball team wanted to make a statement that would echo across Georgia in the Trojans' first-ever Class AA state tournament game.
Friday, the Trojans rode the pitching and hitting of senior Conard Broom to sweep away Oglethorpe County in a pair of mercy-rule five-inning contests.
Gordon Lee won the opener 10-0 on a Broom no-hitter. He then set the tone in the second game with a first-inning grand slam as the Trojans rolled to a 25-1 win, ending the best-of-three series.
The Trojans (17-7) next travel to the winner of the Benedictine and Brooks County series.
After missing a perfect game in the opener with a lone walk, Broom's third no-hitter of his senior season was possibly topped by his day at the plate. He went 5-for-6 with five RBIs and three runs scored in the two games.
"If this one didn't top them all, it's in my top three for sure in my high school career," Broom said of the sweep. "It was awesome. I was just trying to work at getting better with each at-bat. I kept seeing the pitches a little better. I had a 3-2 count (on the grand slam) and I hopped on one, and I guess I took it for a ride.
"We were definitely trying to send out a message, and we did today, for sure," added the senior who now is two wins shy of tying the state record for career pitching victories. "I'm excited to go onto the next round and go on the road. We've done well on the road in the past, and we're ready to hop on that train."
Gordon Lee coach Mike Dunfee, whose team sent 20 players to the plate in a 15-run fifth inning that padlocked the nightcap, knew the Trojans were extremely motivated to announce their entry into the Class AA state tournament.
"We wanted to send a message to everybody in Double-A that, hey, we can play ball," Dunfee said. "Just because we came from Single-A doesn't mean that we don't know how to play ball, and it doesn't mean baseball isn't very good in Single-A. There is some very good baseball across the state, I don't care what classification it is."
Chaney Rogers pitched four strong innings to pick up the win for the Trojans in Game 2, while Jake Rogers and Logan Peterson, with three RBIs apiece, joined Broom in leading the hit parade in the clincher.
The Rogers brothers powered much of the offense in the opener with four hits and four RBIs between them. Meanwhile, the dominant pitching of Broom, with seven wins on the season and 42 for his career, set the tone for the day.
"Any time he goes out there, we know we've got a shot," Dunfee said. "Our pitching staff is pretty good and we only really used two of our guys today. We've got five, six and seven guys I feel confident throwing out there.
"We know we've got a tough test coming up in the next round. We'll see what happens."
Contact Greg Thompson at sports@timesfreepress.com.