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Game Recap: #1 Houston County vs #10 Tift County

April 6, 2023
Hudson Graham
PBR Georgia Scouting Director

#10 Tift County traveled to #1 Houston County for one of the biggest region matchups of the year. Both schools are having outstanding seasons, but only 1 can sit at the top of the region heading into the playoffs. The atmosphere matched the hype of the game, and both teams came out swinging. 

Sophomores John Davis and Brady Moretz both singled in the first, but were not able to come around to score. Georgia commit, Ryker Chavis got the ball for the Bears. Chavis has been one of the more consistent arms in the state all year. The left handed senior had his usual stuff, a mid-upper 80’s fastball, breaking ball for strikes, and a changeup to keep hitters guessing.
 
Junior, John Dorman started the game for Tift County on the mound. Standing at 6-foot-3 190-pounds Dorman would need to be on his A game in order to disrupt the Bears line up. He opened up the first with a low 80’s fastball and went right at the top of the order. Drew Burress and Andrew Dunford had back to back singles, but would be stranded after Kai Decker rolled into a 4-6-3 double play.
Chavis had a quick 2nd inning, and turned it back over to the offense. Senior Hunter Chiappetta got things going in the 2nd with a 1 out single. After a passed ball runners were on 2nd and 3rd when Ethan Buffone put down a beautiful bunt down the first base line for a single and RBI. The Bears would plate 2 runs in the 2nd after a throwing error on a potential double play.
Tift County managed a couple singles in the 3rd, but no runs to show for it. They would finally get things going in the 4th inning with a lead off single by Brady Moretz. With runners on 1st and 2nd sophomore Landon Parrish was able to get a bunt down to move the runners over. Mac Brooks managed to get a FB up in the zone, and drive it up the middle to bring home 2 runs and tie the game. Then with 2 outs, freshman Tyler VanSumeren stepped up to the plate with runners in scoring position. He stayed on a fastball on the outer half and drove it over the shortstops head to give Tift County the lead.

Houston County answered right back with another Hunter Chiappetta single, and then a double to the wall by Ethan Buffone. ‘22 Future Gamer Eli Stephens then hit a hanging breaking ball to tie the game at 3. That would finish John Dorman’s night on the mound. He battled tough for 3.1 innings, and managed to give his team a chance, and turn the ball over to sophomore Will Pridgen. Pridgen faced a tall task with Drew Burress stepping into the box with bases loaded and 1 out. He ended up walking him to give the Bears the lead, but managed to get these next 2 guys out to give Tift a shot in the 5th.
The game would then slowly creep away from Tift when Andrew Dunford cashed in with the infield in and plated 2 runs to give them a 6-3 lead. Tift added a couple singles from Landon Parrish and Luke Ellerbee, but could not manage to get them across. Ryker Chavis entered to hit for himself in the 6th, and came up with a grand slam to seal the win for the Bears.

The takeaways from this south Georgia matchup was that the Tift County line up can hang with the best of them, and will be playoff contenders in a couple weeks time. I will be excited to see the rest of their pitchers in the future. Houston County will continue to be a tough team to beat with their depth on the mound, and consistent line up. Look for both of these teams to make deep playoff runs in 6A.