CHICKAMAUGA, Ga. – No flinch.
The same two words were used by Gordon Lee baseball coach Mike Dunfee and senior catcher Chris Potter when they described the team’s motto for the season.
It was that resolve that carried the Trojans during Wednesday afternoon’s doubleheader to start a best-of-three series against Seminole County in the GHSA Class A public quarterfinals. Down 4-2 in the bottom of the fifth inning of the first game after wasting a bevy of early scoring opportunities, the 2018 state champions didn’t panic.
Led by Potter’s two home runs and dominant pitching performances, the Trojans outscored the Indians 24-0 from that point to win 11-4 and 15-0 and advance to the semifinals against the winner of the quarterfinal series between Bowdon and Clinch County.
Seminole County ended its season 21-10.
“Whenever the other team hits us, we don’t flinch,” Potter said. “We just wait for our time, and whenever that time comes, you hit them right back as hard as you can.”
The offensive onslaught started with a clutch two-out, two-run single by Jake Wright to make it 4-4 in the fifth inning. Gordon Lee (28-4) kept rolling the following inning after junior Will Sizemore drove in the go-ahead run, scoring seven to pull away for the victory.
“You have to just keep playing the game,” Dunfee said. “That’s been this team all year. In every game we’ve played, somebody’s gotten it going, and then we put a few together. They don’t press; they just take one pitch at a time and have fun playing the game.”
While the offense might get the credit for breaking the game open, it was relief pitcher Logan Streetman who was the hero for the Trojans in the series opener. Streetman came on with nobody out in the fourth inning, and after allowing the two inherited runners to score, he gave up only one hit over the final three innings to put the home team in position to win.
Game two was total dominance by the Trojans. Scoring in every inning but the first, Gordon Lee’s bats put a nail in the Indians’ coffin with a seven-run sixth inning. The combination of Jake Poindexter, Cade Peterson and Brody Cobb went six innings on the mound, striking out 11 while only giving up two hits and a walk.
Contact Kevin Llewallyn at sports@timesfreepress.com.