It's the time of the prep baseball season when Mike Dunfee usually begins to fine-tune his Gordon Lee High School team for another long postseason run.
Coming off a lost year due to the COVID-19 pandemic and now a two-week span of weather-induced chaos, just getting on the field will have to do for the Trojans. Dunfee's crew, which is shut out of practicing for the second time in recent days due to flooding, returned to the field Thursday at the Yellow Jacket Classic at Lookout Valley, where the Trojans scored single runs in five innings to defeat South Pittsburg, 5-1.
"I feel we have a football schedule, where we play a game and we're off five or six days," Dunfee said with a shake of his head. "We need to get in a routine and find some consistency. It's hard when you can't practice because your field and fieldhouse are flooded. It has mentally challenged all of us, but the kids know to expect it and they're tough.
"It was great to get back on the field today and play a good South Pittsburg team."
The Trojans (14-2), ranked No. 1 in Georgia's Class A public classification, defeated Pirates ace Ryan Cagle, who allowed eight hits and three earned runs while striking out seven in six innings.
"He's good. His tempo was good and he pounded the zone," Dunfee said of Cagle. "We capitalized on some mistakes they had. If they made some plays behind him it would have been a tight game."
Gordon Lee took a 2-1 lead in the third inning on Brody Cobb's two-out RBI single and added a run in the fourth on Griff Collins' two-out solo home run. Cade Peterson and Brodie Genter added run-scoring hits in the fifth and seventh innings, respectively.
Junior reliever Tanner Wilson was impressive, allowing two hits and no earned runs while striking out six in five innings to earn the win. Starter Riley King needed 65 pitches to get out of the first innings and managed to strand four runners before Wilson came on to quiet the Pirates' bats.
"He's a junior, a middle relief guy who next year will be a starter for us," Dunfee said of Wilson. "He accepts his role for us and does whatever he can. During jayvee games he stays and watches, even though he doesn't have to, and is always high-fiving the guys and cheering them on. He's a great teammate and it's nice to see him doing well."
Peterson and Jacob Neal were 2-for-3, with Blake Rodgers and Kade Cowan also getting two hits each for the Trojans, who play Silverdale Baptist Academy (6 p.m. start) and Moore County (8:30) Friday at Lookout Valley. South Pittsburg (7-3) plays host Lookout Valley at 1:30, with Silverdale and Moore County playing at 3:45.
Contact Lindsey Young at lyoung@timesfreepress.com; follow him in Twitter @youngsports22