FOLKSTON, Ga. - Trion will play for the GHSA Class A public school baseball championship Saturday after shocking No. 2-seeded Charlton County in a doubleheader sweep Monday.
The Bulldogs (24-7) rallied in each game, winning 8-2 after trailing 2-1 and prevailing 6-4 in game two after falling behind 3-0. Trion will travel to Treutlen County, itself an upset winner over No. 1 Schley County, in Saturday's doubleheader start to a best-of-three title series.
Game one was tied at 2 in the fifth when Evan Walker's one-out double scored Jarrett Pierce with the go-ahead run. The Bulldogs put the game away in the sixth with five runs, the big hit a two-out grand slam off the bat of Malik Martin.
Pitcher Drew Williams survived a shaky start to go the distance, allowing seven hits and striking out five. He allowed only one runner past first base after the third inning.
Charlton, the visitor on the scoreboard in game two, used a pair of hits and an error to score two runs in the first inning off Trion starting pitcher Walker. The lead was 3-0 in the third when the Bulldogs struck back on Williams' two-out, three-run double to tie the game.
The Indians (27-4) went back up with a single run in the fifth on Andrew Chasser's RBI single, but the Bulldogs tied it in the bottom half when Griffin Floyd's groundout scored Martin.
Trion, after Walker retired the Charlton side in order in the top of the sixth, used a walk, Gabe Howell's infield single and Walker's RBI single to go up 5-4. Two batters later Williams capped his big night with another run-scoring hit, giving him four RBIs on the game.
Walker worked around an error in the seventh to finish the game and send the Bulldogs to the title series.
Contact Lindsey Young at lyoung@timesfreepress.com or at 423-757-6296; follow on Twitter @youngsports22.