Oglethorpe County (14-10, 8-2) swept Putnam County (14-7, 7-3) in a two-game series on the diamond last week.
The Patriots defeated the War Eagles 9-3 on Tuesday, April 12 behind a strong pitching effort from junior Blane McFarland.
The right-hander limited the War Eagles to five hits, and three runs, while only walking one in seven innings pitched. McFarland also struck out nine in the win.
Putnam County started strong offensively after trailing 1-0 entering the bottom half of the first. Jacob Grimes and Gerald Kilgore led off the frame by hitting back-to-back homers to take a 2-1 lead. Chase Lupton then reached base a few batters later on a hit-by-pitch. He later scored on an RBI hit by Dakota Jones.
OCHS had to claw its way back into contention after McFarland silenced the War Eagles’ bats for the rest of the contest. The Patriots plated one run each in the top of the second and third innings to tie it up at 3-3 entering the fourth.
Kilgore had a rough outing on the mound in the fourth as he surrendered two runs, which gave Oglethorpe County a 5-3 lead. The Patriots then had all the momentum and registered two runs each in the fifth and seventh innings to secure the win.
Jones was the bright spot on offense for Putnam County in game one. He went 2-for-3 with one RBI.
The final contest of the two-game series was much more competitive, although Oglethorpe County defeated the War Eagles 7-4 at home in Lexington.
Putnam County took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first as Jalon Kilgore scored on an RBI single by his brother, Gerald. Bradley Pettit proceeded to cross home plate in the top of the second as Hunter Holder singled, giving the War Eagles a 2-0 edge.
Lupton started on the hill for PCHS and cruised through the first two innings before running into trouble in the bottom of the third. The Patriots would tie it up as Bennett England had a two-out single, scoring McFarland and Landon Eberhart.
The Patriots would take a 3-2 lead in the next inning as Cohen Caldwell scored on a wild pitch. They would add two more runs in the bottom of the fifth to lead, 5-2.
Putnam County almost came back and tied it up in the sixth. Jalon Kilgore had a two-out single that scored both Pettit and Thad Griffith, who beat out a throw. Those runs brought the War Eagles to within one run of the Patriots.
Regardless, Oglethorpe County plated two insurance runs in the sixth off of Lupton to extend their lead to 7-4. Patriots’ right-hander pitcher Henry Johnson retired three of four Putnam County batters to end the contest in the seventh.
The War Eagles enter the final week of the regular season sitting in third place in the region standings after being swept by Oglethorpe County.
They are set to play a series this week against current No. 1-seed Jefferson County to end their region schedule. The outcome of that series could decide the final Region 4-AA standings before the start of the state playoffs.
Check out next week’s edition of The Eatonton Messenger for updates.