ACE gets crucial region victory against Washington County ahead of playoffs

The ACE Gryphons got a crucial momentum boost Tuesday night at home when they defeated the region rival Washington County Golden Hawks 11-6 in a back-and-forth classic that stretched deep into the April night in Macon.

While ACE already secured its playoff spot by placing in the top three of Region 2-A Division I, they were still tied with Washington County and the Bleckley County Royals atop the standings, as all three teams had a 14-2 record prior to Tuesday’s games.

The Gryphons battled all night, answering every Golden Hawks scoring barrage with runs of their own to win the game. ACE is now in the driver’s seat for the second seed in the region, which would give them a home playoff game.

“Last week was a tough week for us… we knew that wasn’t us last week against Bleckley County, that wasn’t Gryphon baseball. We just challenged the guys at practice yesterday to get back to what we do,” ACE head coach Josh McLendon said. “Just play with confidence, stay within yourself, do what we do and do it well.”

Since they had the tiebreaker, all the Golden Hawks needed to do was defeat the Gryphons twice — once on the road Tuesday and then at home in Sandersville on Friday — to claim the region championship.

With the Gryphons’ win, Bleckley County should claim the region trophy instead, assuming they defeat the winless Central Chargers at home Friday. The Royals, who won a game in Macon against Central 11-0 earlier Tuesday, sat out in the bleachers beyond the center field fence and watched as ACE helped them win the region title.

“It worked out pretty perfectly. We had some food and then came over here and watched a great game that helped us get into first place,” Bleckley County head coach Brad Davis said of the serendipitous schedule that had the Royals in Macon the same night as the pivotal ACE-WaCo matchup.

After the win over Central in which Brady Brannon pitched five no-hit innings and Jay Johnson drove in four runs, Davis and his team had dinner — the Royals feasted on Chick-fil-A, the head coach said — before arriving at ACE to watch the game.

Washington County jumped out to an early 2-0 lead in the first frame, but ACE took it right back with three runs in the bottom half of the inning. 

The rest of the game had a similar tone. The Gryphons scored two runs each in the third and fourth innings to go up 7-4, but the Golden Hawks bounced right back with two runs in the fifth to make it a tight 7-6 contest.

ACE got all the momentum in the bottom of the fifth, however, when Aiden Sanderson powered a grounder up the middle to drive in a run and make it 8-6. A wild throw on Sanderson’s advance to second squirted past the outfielder backing up the play, allowing Sanderson to come all the way around to score in a play that got the Gryphon bench pouring out of the dugout and the home crowd — including the Royals — excited.

“We knew Washington County had a good ballclub, they’re 20-6. We knew we were gonna be in a dogfight, and we were, but I was really proud of the grit and determination our team showed,” McLendon said. “We applied pressure, kept working and pulled it out. It was a great win for us.”

That 9-6 lead ballooned to 11-6 after more Washington County throwing errors in the fifth, and the Golden Hawks never recovered as Chase Sasser completed four clutch innings to give the Gryphons the win.

“We knew run differential was gonna matter. I feel like Sasser really answered the bell for us. Our starter had to battle, and he was at 80, 90 pitches after three innings,” McLendon said. “When we turned to Sasser we said, ‘Hey, you gotta get it done for us.’ Couldn’t be more proud of him and his composure. He deserves it.”

ACE now takes a five-run advantage to Sandersville for Friday’s game. Should they win or keep the deficit below six runs, the Gryphons will beat out Washington County for the second place spot in the region and play a home playoff game next week, something McLendon and the team feel gives them much more edge in the
postseason.