FPD rides Strandmark no-hitter, dominant offense to semifinal win over Athens Christian

If players or fans from Athens Christian woke in the middle of the night a little unsettled, it may be from an overnight vision of somebody they don’t want to see again for a while.

The Eagles have had enough of FPD pitcher Conner Strandmark to last at least through the summer, as Strandmark made another day at the office pretty boring — but impressive — and pretty depressing for Athens Christian.

The big-righthander got FPD off to a nifty semifinal start with a six-inning no-hitter as FPD rolled Athens Christian 10-0 Friday afternoon in the opener of their GIAA series.

As if he wasn’t enough of a nightmare in the opener, he came on in relief in the nightcap with the bases loaded and one out, and needed just one pitch to get a 5-2-3 inning-ending double play to spark a 9-1 win and advance the Vikings to the state championship series for the second straight year.

FPD now gets a crack at doing to the Brookstone Cougars what they did to FPD a year ago: win a state championship in the opponents’ home town. The Class 4A championship series starts Thursday night at the new Synovus Park in Columbus.

The Vikings enter preparation for that series off a day of baseball that went maybe better than any script, starting with Strandmark.

“I thought very early, in the first inning, I thought he thought, ‘I’m in control of the game,’” FPD head coach Greg Moore said. “We heard a lot about the 1-2-3 hitters, and the damage they had done in the previous series.

“We thought three was their best hitter.”

Bryson Campbell struck out on four pitches, Garrett Millford grounded out on six pitches, Keaton Westbrook walked on six, and Jasper House popped out on the first pitch.

“That was our game plan,” Strandmark said of the top three batters. “If we got them out, we’d be good.”

They did, and they were, with FPD playing solid defense as Strandmark improved to 10-1 after striking out 10 and walking two on an efficient 81 pitches in six innings.

Only five times did he have a 2-0 or 2-1 count, and he got four first-pitch outs.

The only blemishes on the afternoon for Strandmark were a pair of walks, a hit batter and a second-inning two-out balk after giving up a free pass to open the inning.

“I don’t think I balked the entire year,” Strandmark said.

Moore knew he was in for a pretty good series opener pretty quickly.

“He’s very confident, and the kids are very confident with him there,” Moore said. “He’s so good at throwing strikes and pitching. He’s a pitcher.”

And the offensive support started early with two runs in the bottom of the first, when Keon Johnson led off with a double and advanced on Brady McHugh’s grounder before scoring on Tinsley Lewis’s groundout.

Major Simmons, who reached on an error, scored on an error on a Wyatt Waters grounder. Simmons and McHugh got on base to start off the third and came in on Lewis’s double to center, courtesy runner Luke Shepley cruising in on Grant Martin’s double to left.

That made it 5-0 after three frames. Oddly, FPD went down in order in the second and fourth, but was revived in the sixth, ripping off five runs.

Strandmark belted a one-out solo homer to left, and Simmons joined the club with a three-run shot after Harrison Keenan doubled and Johnson reached on a fielder’s choice.

McHugh ended it against reliever Jordan Hardwick when he blasted a 3-1 pitch over the scoreboard in left, putting the mercy rule into effect.

McHugh had two of FPD’s eight hits, while Simmons and Lewis each knocked in three runs.

The Vikings gave up one in the first inning of the second game, but took the lead with two in the second on a single from Waters and doubles from Martin and Strandmark.

They added one in the third for a 3-1 lead as Waters continued the control of the Eagles’ bats that Strandmark had.

“Wyatt pitched really well in Game 2,” Moore said of his pitcher who fanned seven and walked two in 4.1 innings. “He was very efficient and we made good plays behind him.”

But Athens Christian finally started making Waters work harder, moreso in the fifth. A walk, single, and walk loaded the bases with one out and the Vikings up 3-1.

That ended Waters’ day, for Strandmark, who had 39 pitches left for the weekend. Moore said he almost put Strandmark in last week against Stratford, and that the two had discussed the possibility after that sweep.

“There wasn’t really much said,” Strandmark said when the decision was made Friday, the Eagles no doubt cringing as the position changes were made and Strandmark headed to the mound.

Strandmark, a Mercer commit, needed one pitch to end the threat and all but end Athens Christian’s chances. Hudson Mize slapped a nubber to third, and McHugh threw home for the second out, and catcher Lewis threw a strike to Martin at first to extinguish the threat and hopes. Any balloon of optimism was popped as the Vikings erupted and Strandmark yelled and stormed off the mound.

“That,” Moore said, “ended the series.”

FPD sealed it with two in the top of the sixth, and Strandmark needed only five pitches to shut down the visitors in the bottom of the sixth.

Athens Christian (24-6) had given up 90 runs in 28 games before visiting Macon, and gave up 22.2% of that total in less than five hours. The worst two-game stretch was being outscored 19-9 by Tallulah Falls, which was eliminated early by Stratford.

“Just very balanced both games,” said Moore, whose team played error-free defense to seven for Athens Christian. “A lot of kids hit the ball really well today. I was really proud of the way we did some things on offense.

“It was a great day.”