BASEBALL: Bleckley County makes best of two big innings in sweep of Dublin

After an 0-for-4 week and a half to wind down the month of March, Dublin’s recent dry spell lingered on a few more games as it came up empty in a couple against region rival Bleckley County last week. 

The Irish held leads early in both games, but stumbled hard over a colossal inning in each that lifted the Royals to the wins, by a final of 7-3 Tuesday at Bush Perry Field, then 8-4 to complete the sweep Thursday in Cochran. 

They managed to cut down on their total of walks from 11-plus in the ACE series to a single digit, eight in the lead game to open the week. But those tough-to-overcome free passes were still a theme running alongside several clutch hits that played into the six-run outbursts in Tuesday’s sixth inning and Thursday’s second that put Bleckley over the top. 

The Royals scored all seven of their runs unanswered in the last two frames of the opener to flip a 3-0 Dublin lead through five, and eventually build up an 8-6 advantage in the hit column. 

Bleckley pounded out a few in the first five innings, but couldn’t come up with a key RBI despite plenty of contact against Irish starting pitcher Xavier Reese, who got just one of his 16 outs on strikes. 

But the Royals’ frustration ran its course in the sixth, when some of the nagging sort reared its ugly head for the Irish. 

Multiple walks, a wild pitch, a balk and an error were included along with a double by Noah Woodard and RBI single by Thomas Evans as Reese (relieved after getting an out, but on the hook for four runs, all earned, via seven Bleckley hits) got the first out of the inning, then Morgan Davis, Tal Duke and Will Wallace faced 12 more batters (walking five, and striking out two with just one additional hit) in search of the game’s last five. 

Another run walked home as Bleckley added on a bit of insurance in the seventh, while Dublin could not make any progress on a potential comeback against Walker Boatright, who struck out four, walked none and hit one in a complete game. 

The Irish put some pressure on him in the early innings, capitalizing on some two-out trouble for their first run in the bottom of the second as Will Wallace drew a hit-by-pitch, advanced on a wild one then scored on the RBI single of Morgan Davis. 

Davis would drive in another via fielder’s choice in the fourth when the same group got in on a two-spot. Yates, Duke and Wallace singled back-to-back-to-back, and Dublin made it 3-0 on the Davis groundout that claimed Wallace on a force-out at second, and a Bennett Lake ground ball that was misplayed for an error. 

Reese and C.J. Stubbs also had Irish singles. 

Friday, singles by Yates and Wallace, sandwiched by a Duke sacrifice bunt, set the table for a run-scoring error to put Dublin first on the board in Cochran. But the slender number was all the Irish could get out of the opportunity, the rest of which was squashed by an inning-ending strikeout from J.D. Holloway. 

Bleckley would bite off another six runs in its half of the second inning, with Jay Johnson and Woodard singling in succession to tie the score. 

The Royals proceeded to load the bases for Caleb Foskey, whose two-RBI single made it 3-1. 

Boatright, Fleming and Cole added hits to bring in the remaining three. 

Dublin chipped away a little in the fourth to make it 6-2, as Jeff Davis singled and scored on an error. 

But Bleckley got the run back immediately in the fourth. 

The Irish loaded the bases again in the top of the fifth, but could only capitalize for one run on a C.J. Stubbs sacrifice fly. Two more in the air ended the inning with the score 7-3. 

Dublin scratched out one more in the sixth with the help of singles by Wallace and Yates to make it a three-run game. But once again, Bleckley answered in the bottom of the inning, and Johnson would retire the side routinely in the seventh. 

Gavin Cole and Boatright both had two hits and two RBIs for the Royals.

Yates pitched into the sixth before maxing out his pitch count and giving way to Brayden Moore. Bleckley got its final run on a passed ball. 

The Irish weren’t able to take the field, but registered a couple more wins to stop the streak at six on Monday afternoon as Central Macon called to forfeit both games of a scheduled doubleheader, giving Dublin (16-9, 12-4 region 2-High A) a full week off for spring break 

The Irish will play a two-game series against Dodge County, starting Tuesday at home and finishing on Friday in Eastman, then celebrate senior night on Thursday against GMC, as they conclude the regular season. 

Bleckley County, meanwhile, had two with ACE this week in what’s shaping up as a de-facto region championship series. 

The Gryphons took a thrilling opener that went to extra innings on its home field Tuesday night, as Sebastian Falduti (whose walk-off hit broke the hearts of Dublin in a similar situation the week before) once again delivered with the bases loaded to win it 5-4 in the bottom of the ninth. The Royals, who now trail first by a game, will have a chance to even the series and initiate a first-place tie with a week’s schedule still to go as they host the finale in Cochran Thursday night.