BASEBALL: Off of four-win week, East Laurens stuns WACO Tuesday for sixth in a row

The East Laurens Falcons have already shown more than once this season that they’re a team region 2-High A’s top contenders are unwise to sleep on. 

After handing ACE an unexpected first league loss earlier in March, they took another one down in its own ballpark Tuesday night with an 8-7 win to get the first of this week’s two-game series with Washington County. 

East compiled 17 hits, with the help of three each by Conner Lawrence, Logan Gibson and Myles Burke plus five RBIs on a double and home run by Konner O’Neal, to run out to a big early lead, and outlasted the Golden Hawks’ late comeback effort by a run to hang on for the key victory, which will serve as a big booster to its playoff hopes. 

The Falcons (13-10, 9-6 region 2-High A) look to be in great shape from a position of 33rd statewide in the GHSA Post Season Ratings as they vie for an at-large bid in the state tournament, though a potential sweep of WACO – which still has a pair of region games against ACE coming up in two weeks, following its return visit to East Dublin Friday – could also put them in position to capture an outright berth as one of the region’s top four finishers, depending on how things play out. 

The win was their sixth in a row, following huge ones at Jefferson and Montgomery counties and a sweep of Southwest Macon comprising a 4-for-4 streak since the victory at ACE March 20. 

East Laurens was scheduled to play a non-region game at Hawkinsville on Thursday afternoon. 

Tuesday, the Falcons built up a 7-0 lead before Washington County could score. 

The Golden Hawks got their first two in the bottom of the fifth, then five more between the sixth and seventh to make it a nailbiter. 

But it was the extra cushion of a run in the sixth inning, coming on back-to-back doubles by Grayson Edge and Brody Kight, that insured the East Laurens lead. 

The Falcons jumped on WACO starter Clark Trussell quickly as Lawrence led off with an infield single (courtesy runner Jaxten Thomas promptly stole second) and Myles Burke drew a walk to set the table for a three-run bomb to center on the first pitch to O’Neal. 

East built on the lead with a run in the second, as Cade Oliver singled and stole second, Lawrence followed with another base hit and O’Neal’s sacrifice fly scored Thomas to make it 4-0. 

Another in the fourth made it 5-0 as Burke singled, and O’Neal doubled to bring him in, though the Falcons had to settle for just that as O’Neal was thrown out at the plate on another two-bagger by Gibson. 

Sam Wynn walked and Lawrence singled to lead off the fifth against new pitcher Wyatt Hopkins. Logue, running for Wynn, and Thomas, again for Lawrence, both scored on an RBI single by Burke to increase the edge to a commanding 7-0. 

Lawrence, who allowed only five hits, walked four and struck out six in his five-inning start, kept the Golden Hawks scoreless until the bottom of his final inning. 

WACO’s comeback bid gained some traction in a four-run sixth that narrowed the gap to just two, as Oliver (who walked two and struck out one) tossed his lone inning of relief. 

But the final frame, and the save, belonged to Edge. 

Ben Davis, who drew a one-out walk, scored the Hawks’ only run thanks to the back-to-back singles of Colton Brown and Trey Cannida, on either side of a flyout by Tristan Hart. 

Brown, however, was thrown out at third on the latter play for the final out of the game. 

The East Laurens pitching trio combined to walk and strike out seven. 

WACO’s staff gave out five free passes, and fanned six. 

The Falcons also stole seven bases. 

East Laurens 17, Montgomery Co. 4

The Falcons used 18 hits to blow past the Eagles on Monday, March 23 in Mt. Vernon, as Lawrence held them to just two in a six-inning complete game. He struck out seven and walked only one. 

East Laurens hitters lit into four MoCo pitchers, who joined to issue six walks. But they had 12 hits against starter Luke Burns. 

O’Neal was 4-for-4 with four RBIs, and finished a homer shy of the cycle. 

Oliver and Edge (with three RBIs) had three hits each; Burke, Gibson (driving in four) and Nollan Scott had two apiece. 

East Laurens 15, Southwest Macon 0 

Brody Kight threw a three-inning no-hitter to pick up another handy win on Tuesday back at home, striking out four and facing only one in excess of the minimum. 

The Falcons had seven hits at the plate, with O’Neal coming up with a double and triple to drive in three. 

Gibson also continued his recent hot streak with three RBIs. 

Edge and Oliver had three each of the team’s 14 steals. 

East Laurens 14, Jefferson Co. 5 

The Falcons completed their sweep, but had to overcome a few early deficits as Jefferson County went on the board first with three runs in the opening inning, and back up with a one after they mirrored its three-spot in the first inning. 

  But East Laurens continued to pound away, and would score 11 unanswered before the Warriors got another on the board, and it came in the bottom of the sixth to ensure the game would go a full seven innings. 

The Falcons only led the hitting 8-7, but worked 12 walks and benefitted from four Jefferson County errors. 

Kight and Lawrence had three hits and two RBIs each. Cade Oliver hit safely twice. 

East Laurens 26, Southwest Macon 3

The Falcons finished their week of beatdowns with the biggest of all in Macon. They put up 11 in the first and 15 in the second, out-hitting the Patriots 16-2 overall. 

It was a three-hit, five-RBI night from Gibson. Burke drove in three on three. Lawrence had three RBIs on two, and Kight two on two. 

Gibson held Southwest to two hits and struck out seven with no walks. 

All three runs by the Patriots were unearned. 

Oliver and Kight had four each of the team’s 18 steals.