The Gatewood Gators began their playoff run for a GIAA Class AA state championship by hosting the Trinity Christian Crusaders out of Dublin.
The Gators took the two-out-of-three series with back-to-back wins last Friday.
Wilson Moore started on the mound in game one for the Gators. He got into a little trouble early with the bases loaded but managed to escape the first inning unscathed.
After Moore again held the Crusaders off the scoreboard in the top of the second inning, the Gators’ bats broke through when Walker Roberts got on base after a Trinity infield error, and a walk taken by Moore put two runners on base.
Lawson Wooten then stepped up with a single to left field that scored both Roberts and Moore to give the Gators a 2-0 lead. A double by John Wallace Thompson then sent Wooten home for a 3-0 lead before the inning ended on a pair of Gator strikeouts.
The Crusaders went three-up, three-down in the top of the third and remained scoreless through the fifth inning. Trinity came close to scoring in the sixth after a single and a walk gave it a pair of runners on base, but Roberts stepped up to extinguish the fire by forcing a pop-up to second baseman Hunter Johnson.
In the bottom of the sixth, Moore singled to left field to set up a Wooten homer to center field to cap off a 5-0 game-one victory for the home team.
Moore got the win after five innings pitched with three hits allowed, and six strikeouts before Roberts took over for the final two innings, and recorded three strikeouts while allowing only one hit to help secure the final result.
In game two, Gatewood was the visiting team on its own field. The Gators had a slow start with zero hits in the first inning, but defensively they also held Trinity hitless.
In the second inning, the Gators came out swinging and scored the first run of the game off a solo homer by Roberts to center field before a pair of outs ended their efforts. In the bottom of the inning, Gatewood allowed its first run on an infield error that allowed the Crusaders’ runner to score from second base.
Gatewood answered in the top of the third with a run-scoring double from Ames Johnson that sent Hunter Johnson home and advanced Ben Brannen to third, where he remained stranded at inning’s end.
Trinity claimed its first lead of the series with a pair of runs scored in the bottom of the third inning. A single scored a runner from second, followed by a double that sent another Crusader home from second base as they took a 3-2 lead. The final out of the inning came on a play from Gators right fielder Tanner Johnson, who fielded a single, then made a perfect throw to catcher Hunter Johnson who placed the tag on the runner at home plate.
Both teams held each other scoreless through the fourth inning, but in the fifth, the Gators broke the short-lived streak with a four-run effort.
It began after a pair of singles and a walk loaded the bases to set up a grand slam to right field by Roberts that also scored Ben Brannen, Johnson and Caleb Riser to boost the score to a 6-3 Gators’ lead.
Gatewood held Trinity scoreless for the rest of the game, but the Gators added a little insurance with a pair of runs on a stolen base at home plate by Johnson and a run scored by Riser on a wild pitch to reach the 8-3 final score, which won them the series and advanced to the Final Four.
Wooten pitched six innings while allowing three runs and four hits but recorded seven strikeouts. Roberts came on in relief, pitching one inning and striking out all three batters he faced.
The Gators, after a bye in the first round as the No. 1 seed, advanced to the Class AA semifinal at home in Eatonton this Friday against No. 4 seed Edmond Burke Academy (EBA), which beat Citizens Christian Academy 7-2 and 4-3 in its quarter-final round.
Gatewood and EBA met once in Waynesboro early in April, where the Gators secured an 11-2 victory. Game one of the semifinals is scheduled for a 4 p.m. start, with game two set for 7 p.m. Game three will be played at 3 p.m. Saturday at Gatewood, if necessary.