Cody Commons had a bad taste in his mouth, and the only way to get rid of it was to help his team win a baseball game.
Not just any game, but what essentially was an elimination game for the Lakeview-Fort Oglethorpe Warriors.
Following a 10-0 loss to rival Ringgold on Tuesday, Thursday’s 8-1 Region 6-AAA win over LaFayette not only kept LFO’s playoff hopes alive, but it helped eradicate that lingerng bad taste.
“We just wanted to come in loose and have some fun because this was a big game,” said the senior Commons, who knocked in two runs. “We were real aggressive at the plate and on the bases. We didn’t play well against Ringgold, so this feels good.”
LFO (16-8, 8-5) hosts its regular-season finale today against Carrollton, and a win guarantees the fourth and final region playoff spot. Thursday’s loss eliminated LaFayette (9-15, 5-8) from contention. The Ramblers would have advanced if a four-way tie among LFO, LaFayette, Cedartown and Heritage had occurred.
The Warriors showed quickly that this would not be a repeat of Tuesday’s debacle. Leadoff hitter Justin Walker doubled in the first inning, moved to second on a groundout and scored on Commons’ groundout. They added two runs in the second on an Aaron Legg single and the first of two LaFayette errors.
LFO broke the game open in the fifth with five runs, helped by the second error. Commons, Levi Scudgins and Tim Johnson had RBI hits.
The runs were more than enough for Johnson, who ran his record to 8-0 by scattering eight hits and striking out four.
Legg and Johnson each had two hits for LFO, while Brett Butler had two for the Ramblers.
“I was pleased with our approach today,” LFO coach Brad Langford said. “We played terrible against Ringgold. We just didn’t show up ready to play. From the time we showed up today, we were mentally focused.
“They know what’s in front of them and that we control our own fate. In the first we had a double, got him over and in on a sacrifice fly — just good baseball. And Tim did what he has done all year, just went after them and made them hit the ball.”