BASEBALL: Bleckley County routs East Laurens 10-0, 14-4 to complete sweep

East Laurens did a good bit better keeping Bleckley County’s offense under wraps, and staying out of the huge innings, than it could on Tuesday, when the Royals scored 25 on 16 hits in their dominant series debut. 

But the region 2-High A leader still rolled confidently to a pair of 10-run wins, lasting five innings each, in Cochran to complete a sweep of the Falcons and improve its record to 6-0 against league competition. 

Bleckley County took the first of Friday’s doubleheader in a 10-0 shutout, and won the second 14-4.

East Laurens (3-18, 0-9 region) is set to play three this week – Monday at Vidalia Heritage, Wednesday at home against Washington County and Thursday visiting Northeast Macon – before its last region series against Dublin wraps up the season. 

The Falcons were able to manage only five hits – Conner Lawrence picking up three of them – in the first game against Royal starter Clayton Beck, whose line over a five-inning shutout featured nine strikeouts and only three walks.

Bleckley cranked out 15 to come within one of its Tuesday total, though East was able to work its way out of every inning before any single scoring package began to border on the excessive. 

The Royals put up no more than two in any other frame besides their biggest, a four-run third that stretched the lead to 7-0. 

Beck helped his own cause with three hits and two RBIs. Walker Boatright and Jacob Grant also drove in a pair on three hits each, Grant’s last the walk-off to bring home the 10th in the bottom of inning 5. 

Kaden Mimbs and Konner O’Neal added one hit each to the East Laurens tally. 

Lawrence and Cade Oliver spent time on the hill for the Falcons, Lawrence with the bulk of work in four innings that included 12 Bleckley hits, eight earned runs, two walks and one strikeout. Oliver pitched the remaining two thirds of an inning, going on the hook for three hits, two earned runs and one walk. 

East Laurens managed some scoring in the nightcap, but not before Bleckley had already taken a sizable lead in its seven-run first inning. 

The Falcons answered with two runs in the second on two hits (one an RBI double by Logan Gibson), but the Royals held serve in their half with three to lead 10-2 after two. 

And it was mostly smooth sailing from there for BC’s Brady Brannon, who struck out nine hitters and was without a walk over five complete innings. 

The Royals doubled up East’s two runs in the final three. The Falcons grabbed one unearned run each in the third and fifth. Bleckley tacked on three in the fourth after its single run in the third. 

East’s Konner O’Neal tripled and scored on an error for the earlier of the two. In the fifth, Oliver singled with one out, stole second and came home on an error. But after another Falcon hit, the inning ended on a fielder’s choice and pop-out before they could bring across the one more needed to extend the game into a sixth inning. 

Other East Laurens hits, out of seven on the day, belonged to Harden, Wynn and Lawrence. 

Cravey led Bleckley with three hits in the game, and five total over the doubleheader, clubbing a two-run home run in the three-run second inning of game 2. 

The Royals had 17 hits total, getting two or more each from Beck, Shane Knighton and Josh Dillard. 

O’Neal went an inning and two thirds in the Falcon start, giving up 11 hits and 10 earned runs, walking three. Oliver covered the final two and one third, allowing six hits and four earned runs, and walking one.