Wednesday, May 22, 2002
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Wednesday, May 22, 2002 |
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Fayette County's season ends in second round of state playoffs By MICHAEL
BOYLAN
The Fayette County High School baseball team season ended in the second round of the AAAAA state playoffs. The Tigers (23-6) hosted Coffee County last Wednesday and lost the double header 4-3 in the first game and 6-5 in the second. In the first game, the two teams battled for two scoreless innings before Coffee went up by two runs in the third inning. Fayette County answered in the bottom of the inning with three runs. T.J. Brandenburg and Matt Hankins each drove in a run, while the third run was walked in by the Coffee pitcher. Coffee got two more runs off of pitcher Josh Hunter and secured the win. It was Hunter's only loss of the year. Hunter finished the season with a 6-1 record and an ERA of 0.92. He had 34 strikeouts and only allowed five walks during the 53 innings he pitched this year. He also recorded two saves. Fayette County had to win the second game to stay alive in the tournament and things got off to a good start. Joseph Edens scored the first run in the first inning after two wild pitches from the Coffee pitcher but Coffee answered back with three runs, two of which came off of two run homerun. Lee Hyde, who was pitching for the Tigers, helped his cause by blasting a two run homerun in the following inning to tie the game. Phillip Power drove in a run to give Fayette County a one run lead but Coffee would score three more runs and the Tigers could only produce one more run in the loss. Hyde finished the season with a 6-2 record, a 2.28 ERA and two saves. He also led the team with 11 homeruns. Senior Bryan Moss ended the season with a 6-2 record as a pitcher with a 2.30 ERA and one save. Brandenburg was the team's leading hitter, while Hankins, Mike West and Matt Owens also had very high batting averages. The team finished as region champions and had a very successful season. Hunter and Owens were both named to the Georgia Dugout Club's state all star team. the last time Fayette County had people named to the team was 1998, the last time Fayette County won the region championship. Hunter, Hyde and Brandenburg were named to the first team 4-AAAAA region team and Owens, Hankins, Power and Moss were named to the second team. Outfielder Jordan Stone and infielders Kyle Martin and Joseph Edens made honorable mention.
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