Patriots pushed to Game 3 by Starr’s Mill

The Northside Patriots and Starr’s Mill Panthers split the first two games of their best-of-three opening playoff series in the Georgia High School Association Class 5A baseball playoffs. The two teams will return to Northside Saturday for a deciding Game 3 to be played at 1 p.m.

The Patriots took the first game of the series 6-3 behind some power hitting in the lineup and also despite being outhit 5-4 by the Panthers.

Starr’s Mill struck first in the top of the second as Garrett Houston walked to lead off the inning, then advanced all the way to third on a pair of Northside throwing errors attempting to pick him off. Pitcher Jake Arnold’s double brought Houston home to give the Panthers a 1-0 lead.

Northside answered in the bottom half of the inning, first by loading the bases on three walks and then an Arnold balk to bring Kenny Harrell home, then Dalton Bradford hit a two-RBI double to give the Patriots a 3-1 advantage.

Jalen Latta sat Starr’s Mill down in order in the top of the third, then Drew Haywood’s two-run homer in the bottom half gave Northside a 5-1 lead after three.

Marcus Eberhart continued the slugging at the plate for the Patriots, tacking on another run in the bottom of the fourth with a solo home run after Latta retired the Panthers in order again in the top of the inning. Latta was helped by some stellar fielding as well with Marcus Eberhart making a diving catch for the inning’s second out.

Rickie Post’s RBI double in the top of the fifth inning brought home Tyler Jeffares and pulled Starr’s Mill within 6-2. Arnold set down the Patriots in order in the bottom of the fifth and sixth while Latta was spelled by Connor Willis in the top of the sixth after Latta tripped on the mound delivering warmup pitches. Willis game in and didn’t miss a beat, facing the minimum in the sixth.

The Panthers rallied in the seventh with a Matt Mullins RBI single, but Willis struck Joey Gruzcka out looking to end the game and take the Game 1 victory.

“We played pretty well,” said Northside head coach Dee Miller. “We got some timely hits; the couple of home runs really propelled us in that first game.”

In the nightcap, Northside led off the first without a hit, while the Panthers scored in the bottom half of the inning as Rickie Post came in on a Cole Evans double to give Starr’s Mill an early 1-0 lead. Starr’s Mill was the home team in Game 2 despite the game being played on Northside’s home field.

After Starr’s Mill pitcher Will Evans struck out the side in the top half of the second, his team responded with another run in the bottom half of the inning for a 2-0 lead.

Tyler Pace tied the game briefly for the Patriots in the top of the third with a two-run homer, but a four-run inning in the bottom half helped Starr’s Mill reclaim the lead at 6-2. They tacked on four more runs in the fifth and sixth innings to take the split and force a deciding Game 3 tomorrow afternoon.

“I don’t think we ran out of gas, I just think we didn’t have a good approach,” Miller said of Game 2. “After winning the first one, we lost our approach and our edge a bit. We’re going to try and get that back before 1 o’clock tomorrow.

“We’re going to come out with a little better focus, try not to make any mental errors, and play our best baseball.”

Miller says he and the Patriots will refine their hitting prior to facing Starr’s Mill tomorrow for the deciding game. He also named Drew Haywood as his Game 3 starter against the Panthers tomorrow afternoon.

“We’ve gotta do a better job of squaring up the hittable pitches early in the count,” said Miller. “We fouled too many of those off. We’ll come in the morning and work on our approach to hit more line drives.

“We’re aggressive early in the count. We always have been. If we see a pitch we want early in the count, we’re going to attack it.”

This story was originally published April 29, 2016 at 10:19 PM with the headline "Patriots pushed to Game 3 by Starr’s Mill."