CALHOUN, Ga. — Mason Peek stepped up in the biggest moment yet this season for Calhoun High School’s baseball team, delivering in more than one way Thursday to not only keep the Yellow Jackets alive but move them within a victory of reaching the GHSA Class AAA semifinals.
Peek homered for second-seeded Calhoun in both games of a doubleheader against No. 10 Oconee County to open their best-of-three series in the quarterfinal round. While his tying home run in the opener went for naught in a 5-4 defeat, Peek and his teammates left no doubt in the nightcap with a 13-4 victory to force a rubber match at 5 p.m. Friday.
The 6-foot-2 Peek was also the starting pitcher in the second game and was nails against an Oconee County lineup that had hammered out 11 hits in the opener against Rocco Baxter. Peek allowed just one hit and an earned run in five innings, striking out seven batters while working around seven walks.
“It’s great to see Mason have that success,” Calhoun coach Matt Montgomery said of the junior ace whose fastball has been clocked at up to 93 mph and was named Region 7-AAA co-pitcher of the year along with Baxter. “He had a huge performance when our back was against the wall. He went out there and just kept battling. I feel like every time we have hit adversity this season, these guys have shown time and time again the ability to fight back.
“Now, to make the Final Four, we just need to come out and stay loose and play our game.”
Calhoun (30-6) ended the night on fire at the plate as sophomore Matt Zander crushed his fourth home run in his past four games to begin an eight-run top half of the seventh, which Peek concluded with a two-run blast to left.
Baxter drove in six runs in game two as he fell a homer shy of the cycle, and Isaiah Nalls and Cam Stewart also had three hits apiece in the bounce-back victory. Nalls had a double among his hits, and he scored three times and stole a base.
Peek escaped a bases-loaded jam in the fourth, and then Region 7-AAA player of the year Hudson Chadwick extended the lead to 5-2 as the junior hit a two-run homer in the fifth.
“My guys were relying on me to go out there and get the job done on the mound,” Peek said. “We bounced back and are hot right now. The fan support here tonight was unbelievable. They made it so much fun to play in that environment. We need them again tomorrow to help us advance to the Final Four.”
(SIGN UP: Get the daily sports newsletter in your email box by clicking here)
Oconee County (23-13) came back from a 3-0 deficit in the first inning of game one as the Warriors scattered 10 singles and had two doubles while benefiting from two errors in the outfield by the hosts.
Calhoun plans to send Zander to the mound Friday for the decisive third game.
Contact Patrick MacCoon at pmaccoon@timesfreepress.com.