Tattnall takes down Stratford in high-scoring region showdown

The start of the Tattnall-Stratford game was delayed a full hour because of lightning throughout the area.

Tattnall might’ve been a little delayed, too.

But the game got going, and so did the Trojans — eventually — as they finished strong to take down visiting Stratford 13-10 Tuesday night in a GIAA District 6-4A/3A battle.

The teams play again Friday at Stratford. Tattnall then closes out district play with two against Piedmont. Stratford has two with last-place Mount de Sales and games at Bulloch and Tiftarea.

The win broke a tie with Stratford for second in the district, but the Trojans entered the game ranked third in GIAA Class 4A, the Eagles ninth.

Tattnall (18-5/4-3) had its win over FPD on April 8 turned into a loss because of a pitch-count violation. The Vikings have clinched the region and are ranked first. The Eagles (13-11/3-4) are tied with Piedmont, a half-game behind third-place John Milledge.

The young Eagles had their chances to pull it out, but some defensive issues and a few hits with eyes, among other things, did them in.

“We played our tails off,” Stratford head coach Barry Veal said. “We played our tails off, we swung the bat. We’re learning. We had enough errors to go around for everybody. Our kids are learning.”

Tattnall head coach Jordan Brooks was happy the Trojans ended strong, considering their start.

“I thought we settled in in the middle of the game,” he said. “I told the guys I felt like we were flat when we came out in all aspects of the game. It was like we were just there.”

Stratford struck out three times in the top off the second after getting the leadoff batter on, but that was no bad omen. They went off for five runs in the top of the third.

Ellis Bridges and Bobby Wooten opened with a walk and single, and Jett Johnston was intentionally walked one out later. Bridges came in when Tate Johnston’s high-chopping grounder up the middle took its time, preventing a forceout at second.

Wooten came in on what was scored as a steal of home, and one out later Jaxen Justice brought in two runs with a single to center. He then scored on starting pitcher Colton Whittington’s double.

“Colton threw the ball great on the mound,” Veal said. “It’s the first game he started all year. A freshman.”

The big inning woke up Tattnall, which then matched the Eagles’ output in the bottom half of the inning.

Tucker Brown’s leadoff double was followed by a pair of outs, including a run-scoring fly to left by Caden McGregger after Brown reached third on a wild pitch. Then a walk, single, hit batter, walk, and outfielder error brought in four more runs to tie it through three.

“When we’ve lost games this year, it’s mainly been because of walks and hit by pitches,” Veal said after a five-walk game with three hit batters. “We still had some tonight.”

Stratford kept grinding with single runs in the fourth and fifth, Whittington keeping Tattnall down in the bottom of the fourth.

The momentum, though, went back to Tattnall in the bottom of the fifth, Whittington’s day coming to an end. A hit batter and an error on consecutive batters after a leadoff walk. That led to a run when Griffey Gorman drove in starting pitcher Wyatt Still with a single before Collins belted a two-run, bad-hop double down the left field line.

All the scoring happened with no outs. On came Justice, who did a nice job avoiding more trouble by retiring the side on seven pitchers.

Stratford answered with a run  in the sixth on Davian Hammonds’ sac fly, but the Trojans punched back with another four-run inning. Nobody covered on a nice bunt by Still to load the bases with no outs. Two outs later, Collins and Cody Colter came up with back-to-back two-run singles to right, one somewhat misplayed down the line.

That made it 13-8, Stratford showing some spark with two runs in the top of the seventh before going down in order, courtesy of Tristan Turner closing it out.

Five Eagles had two-hit games, Wooten and Jett Johnston scoring twice each and Justice driving in two runs.

Seven runs came in off the bat of Collins, Still adding two hits and Turner scoring three times.

It wasn’t sharp for either team, but both had some positives to take away.

“We didn’t lay down, and easily could have after that five-spot,” said Brooks, who was impressed with Whittington’s debut for Stratford. “Not a lot of times do you get to answer and tie it back up in the same inning after you get hit in the mouth early in the game.

“We fought. It was a good team win.”