CHICKAMAUGA, Ga. — The sound Logan Peterson’s bat made when it made contact with the baseball was enough to send his Gordon Lee teammates spilling from the dugout, many on a dead sprint with hands raised in celebration.
Seconds later, Darlington center fielder John Golden broke the Trojans’ hearts with a catch against the fence, sealing a key 2-1 Region 7-AA win for the visitors.
Darlington (11-3, 5-0) now holds a three-game lead over Gordon Lee (5-7, 2-3) with seven league games remaining in the regular season. Tuesday’s game was the latest in a growing rivalry that went with each program as they moved up to Class AA this year.
“This is exactly what you think of when you think of a rivalry game,” said Darlington coach Kent Harrison. “Gordon Lee has a tremendous program with great players. I thought both teams deserved to win this game. It’s huge for us in that it gives us a nice lead in the region. We play them the final game of the season and our goal is to have that game mean nothing toward the championship.”
Not long before, Harrison was already thinking how he was going to console his team when he saw Peterson’s shot head for the fence.