RINGGOLD, Ga. – Given his choice, Eric Beagles would prefer to pocket some of the runs his Heritage High School baseball team scored in an 11-1, 18-1 sweep of Jefferson in the GHSA Class AAAA first-round playoff series Friday.
However, the veteran coach isn’t complaining after the Generals (26-6) rapped out 29 hits in sending the Dragons (16-14) packing. In fact, it was a pleasant surprise for Beagles to see the outburst after sweating out several late-season close games.
“We got on the field today in pregame and had some good swings, and some of those just seemed to carry that over,” Beagles said. “It was good to see, especially some guys who haven’t been hitting very well were stinging it today.
“Now, this score can get a little misleading. They have some tough outs and they battle you. We just happened to explode a bit.”
Heritage had a big inning in each game. The Generals led 2-1 in the first one before sending 11 batters to the plate and scoring seven runs in the third inning. Leadoff man Lance Dockery had a three-run double and Joseph Hill followed with a two-run homer.
Junior ace Cole Wilcox had no trouble keeping the big lead, finishing with a six-hitter to improve to 9-1 on the season.
Heritage scored single runs in the first three innings, including Dockery’s leadoff homer. They scored three more times in the fourth and sixth innings, led by Alex Coulter’s two-run single in the fourth, before putting an exclamation point on the day with a nine-run seventh inning.
Hill had three hits in each game, with Dockery totaling four hits, six RBIs and six runs scored.
“We just came out and stayed hot and played well as a team,” Dockery said. “We kept our confidence up and had great at-bats all day. We decided to keep the pressure on them and play hard every inning.
Added Beagles: “The top of the order had a great day. Lance has been a great sparkplug for us lately, and it’s rare your leadoff hitter leads you in home runs, but he has. Joseph has been locked in for us and has carried us at times.”
Right-hander Alex Barbee allowed six hits to earn his sixth pitching win of the season. Joining Dockery and Hill among the day’s top hitters were Wilcox, who had two doubles and four RBIs; Luke Grant, who had five hits and four runs scored; and Coulter, who had four hits and five RBIs.
Heritage will face the winner of the Woodward Academy/Mary Persons series.
Contact Lindsey Young at lyoung@timesfreepress.com or at 423-757-6296; follow on Twitter @youngsports22