SOPERTON, Ga. – It wasn’t meant as a dig to the just-vanquished visitors, but the song blaring over the speakers at Treutlen County High School following the Vikings’ Class A baseball public school championship sweep of Trion couldn’t have been more apropos Saturday.
As “Flirtin’ With Disaster” greeted both the champions and runners-up, the Bulldogs were left to play the what-if game following their 3-0 and 6-2 losses.
The usually sound defensive team committed seven errors in the two games, leading to six unearned runs. The normally potent lineup produced only four hits off Treutlen’s terrific twosome of Zach Hughes and Tristan Cone.
“We haven’t made many mistakes, especially in the playoffs, but today we did,” Trion coach Jason Lanham said. “We just couldn’t get that big hit today, either, but that’s a testament to their two pitchers. I tip my hat to them. They are a well-coached team that’s well deserving of this championship.
“It’s just hard to get so close to that top of the mountain and fall just short, but that’s the way life goes sometimes.”
The error bug hit Trion (24-7) early in each game, including four in the first three innings of game one. Pitcher Drew Williams limited the damage and trailed just 2-0 after two innings. Trion nearly tied the game in the third when star senior Gabe Howell sent a deep fly to left with a man on, but it was caught at the fence.
After that, the Bulldogs managed just one runner past first, and that didn’t come until two were out in the seventh. Hughes struck out Jackson Bowers and Tyler Gill to end the game.
Game two began with Magel Johnson reaching on an infield error and two walks, loading the bases. Trion junior right-hander Evan Walker, though, allowed only one run on Tyler Summerall’s groundout.
Johnson had a two-out double in the second and scored two batters later on another infield error. The lead grew to 3-0 in the third on Trent Morris’ two-out single, but the Bulldogs finally scored in the bottom half when Howell, pitched around after his near-homer in game one, launched a solo shot a good 50 feet beyond the center-field fence.
An inning later Williams cut the gap to 3-2 with another homer, and the Bulldogs seemed finally to have rattled Cone, who walked two of the next three batters but ended the threat with a controversial third-strike call against Jarrett Pierce.
The momentum, though, was short-lived as Summerall led off the fifth with a homer to make it 4-2. Trion put runners on third and second with one out in the fifth, but Cone again escaped with a strikeout and a popup.
Johnson essentially put the game away in the seventh with a two-out, two-run single, setting off a wild celebration as the Vikings (28-5) accepted their first baseball state championship trophy.
“We’ve been close a few times, so tonight we are going to celebrate this one,” longtime Treutlen coach Brent Korn said. “Our pitching was excellent today. Zach and Tristan have been doing that all year. Today they limited their mistakes and got the job done.
“Trion is a very good team and they pushed us. We were able to answer their challenges a couple of times.”
Said Lanham: “We didn’t play our best today, but I’m not going to devalue one thing these boys have accomplished. When I took over this program six years ago, the team was 2-24, and here we stand now in the state championships. I’m not sure many people would have believed it six years ago, but that’s a testament to these kids.
“What you see walking off that field is a senior group that’s gone to four Sweet 16s, two Final Fours and now a state championship. They’ve won 72 games – that’s quite a resume.”
Contact Lindsey Young at lyoung@timesfreepress.com or at 423-757-6296; follow on Twitter @youngsports22