ACE baseball secures fourth consecutive region title with win over Rutland

The Gryphons took a close contest early and turned it into a 12-2 rout of the Hurricanes

With the sun setting and a rowdy crowd on hand, the ACE Gryphons defeated the Rutland Hurricanes 12-2 to win the GHSA Class 2A Region 2 baseball championship April 15, two games before season’s end.

The win marked the fourth consecutive region title for the Gryphons, who earned the benefit of home field advantage early in the playoffs.

“It feels fantastic. We’ve put a lot of time and effort into this program. I’m just so proud of our guys,” ACE head coach Josh McClendon said. “We lost a lot of guys from last year, so we knew this year would be, and I hate to use the word rebuild, but that’s what some people would say.”

This year’s seniors held their own. Fourth-year Gryphons star pitcher Jack Corrigan allowed two runs in a shaky first inning, but recovered and shut down the Rutland bats for the next five frames to fuel an ACE victory.

“He’s been our number one guy all year, and we knew Jack was gonna settle in. It was just a matter of time,” McClendon said. “We also trusted our offense to score, and once we scored some more runs he settled in more. Everyone did a great job.”

The game ended on a faux “walk-off,” as senior Henry Lewis came off the bench and knocked a single into left field to drive in ACE’s 12th run, making it a 10-run margin and securing a win via mercy rule. His teammates showered him with water bottles and sunflower seeds after he hit the first base bag, celebrating the region championship.

“Henry’s got a knack for coming in late and getting that big hit, you know, I wanna say that’s his fourth walk-off this year,” McClendon said with a smile. “When he comes up in that situation, we kinda expect that he’s gonna get it done for us, and he did that.”

Despite the defeat, Rutland will still finish second in the region and have a chance to finish the season with just two losses and host a first-round playoff game. They play Crawford County Tuesday before a rematch against ACE to close out the regular season Wednesday.

ACE will take on powerhouse Peach County Tuesday prior to the second game against Rutland.

A resounding win

With a region championship on the line, the Gryphons broke out their deep blue jerseys with white pinstripes. The Hurricanes donned bright orange jerseys with green numbers with white trim for the primetime game.

It didn’t take long for sparks to fly. Rutland leadoff man Josh Vinson laced a single into right field and immediately stole second and third. When another Hurricane walked and then took off for second base, Vinson took advantage of the premeditated rundown to speed home and open the scoring.

Pitcher Fisher Hopkins followed one batter later and ripped a double into the gap to drive home another run and put the Canes in front 2-0 early. The offense didn’t last long for Rutland once Corrigan settled in, though. The righty recovered quickly from the rattled start and, aside from a near-beanball that evoked shouts from the home crowd, finished the rest of the frame without incident

The Gryphons wasted no time trying to strike back, as Brice Whitley walked and swiped a bag. Hopkins then faltered in his delivery, balking Whitley over to third before beaning shortstop Jack McClendon with his very next pitch.

Rutland didn’t fall for their own gambit with runners at the corners, as Hopkins let McClendon swipe second for free. Rutland botched a ground ball on the next play, giving ACE its first run before recording an out.

Despite a nice running catch from the Canes left fielder and another flyout, an infield hit followed by a ringing triple into the right field corner by Josh Williams gave the Gryphons a 4-2 lead in no time. A groundout finally ended the first inning after much fanfare.

After a loud first inning that looked competitive, though, the two teams headed in complete opposite directions.

The Hurricanes didn’t score another run for the rest of the contest, while ACE piled on in the ensuing innings to claim the win and the region title. Two runs in the second made it 6-2, and several more off Hopkins and reliever Kurt Weiche sealed the Gryphons’ victory.