Prep Baseball Report

GHSA Playoffs: Denmark Battles Past North Gwinnett


Hudson Graham
PBR Georgia Staff

The #1 seed Danes of Denmark host the #2 seed North Gwinnett in the sweet sixteen match-up for 7A. They faced off in a double header for a chance to punch their ticket to the elite eight. Both teams battled until the final out was made. Denmark took game 1 with a stellar performance by Francesco Capocci. North Gwinnett would match them in game 2 with an outstanding performance on the mound by Michael Massey. Four total pitchers were used in the match-up, two for each side. Despite four great pitcher performances there was still some offense to go around.

Denmark would go on to win the decisive game 3 7-3 and advance to the elite eight where they will take on Parkview.

Game 1

‘23 RHP Francesco Capocci took to the mound for Denmark. ‘23 Tyler Bak led things off for North Gwinnett with a hard hit ball to the third baseman that would force an error. After a walk and sacrifice bunt, ‘22 Tyler Hower sent a single up the middle for the first run of the game.

‘21 West Florida commit Nic Ferrer led things off in the bottom of the first with a backside solo shot to right field. ‘22 Connor McGuinn fired a single back up the middle to give Denmark the 2-1 lead. ‘22 Brody Wheeler followed him with a single of his own.


Denmark came out swinging with a five run first inning.


‘23 Francesco Capocci began to settle in during the second inning. Capocci attacked hitters with a fastball at 87-89, topping out at 90. His velocity held strong for the entire game. He started to mix in a breaking ball at 75-78 later in the game. Also flashed a change-up/splitter type pitch at 82-84. Capocci has the make to be a low-mid 90’s arm in the years to come.
Wofford commit ‘21 Coulson Buchanan got the start on the mound for the Dawgs. He settled down after the first and began to find his grove. His fastball ticked up as the game went on and settled in at 83-86. Buchanan could really spin the breaking ball at 72-75.

‘23
Capocci had some tough luck all day with some errors and a catcher's interference call that made it a 3-5 game third inning. He maintained his composure and minimized damage the entire. He came up with a couple big strikeouts with runners in scoring position.

After a shutdown inning for ‘21 Buchanan in the third the Dawgs looked to get something going in the fourth trailing by 2.
Capocci took care of the Dawgs in the fourth. After a two out walk, Alabama commit ‘22 C Sammy Leis sent a ball down the fist base line for a RBI triple to make it 6-3 Denmark.

Uncommitted ‘21 Ashton Long battled at the plate all day. He fouled a ball off his foot, and had his legs taken out from under him on a head first slide at first that would cause him to have to leave the game in game 2. He singled to start the 5th inning.

‘23 Francesco Capocci gets a big strikeout after three singles by ‘21 Ashton Long, ‘22 Josh Close, and ‘22 Sebastian Rutledge.

With the bases loaded ‘23 Tyler Bak puts a good swing on one, but gets knocked down by the first baseman. It was enough to score a run and make it a 5-6 game. Denmark still up.

In the 6th ‘22 Tyler Hower had a 2-out triple, but Capocci came up with another big strikeout to strand him.

North Gwinnett could not get anything going in the 7th. Capocci gets the complete game win, and sends the Danes up 1-0 heading into game 2 in the best of 3 series.


Game 2

Similar to game 1 we would get to see another pitching duel that would end up in a one run game at the end.

Tulane commit ‘21 Michael Massey cruised through the first eight Denmark batters. ‘23 Kyle Henley singled through the right side to try to get the bats going for the Danes.

 


Uncommitted ‘21 Smaran Ramanathan took to the mound for the Danes. He filled up the zone with a fastball at 78-81 with sink. He mixed pitches well, and forced contact.

Ramanathan looked strong through 3 innings. He gave up back to back singles by ‘22 Sebastian Rutledge and ‘21 Nate Salyer (below).

He forced a ground ball back to him that had the makings of double play, but pulled the third baseman off the back which would score the first run of the game for the Dawgs.


‘22 Tyler Hower had a great day at the plate. He extended the lead to 2 with a single up the middle.
In the 5th ‘21 Michael Massey got two quick outs, but after a hit batter and walk, uncommitted ‘21 Teddy Davenport capitalized with a 2-out single to make it a 1 run game. 

‘22 Jake Myers led the 7th off with a single to try to give the Danes a late comeback, but would later get stranded after a pop-up bunt, and loud final out by ‘21 Teddy Davenport.
North Gwinnett finished off game 2 with a 3-2 victory.

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