Baseball: Falcons' bats break loose in win over Johnson

GAINESVILLE – The rain and the fog did not seem to bother the Flowery Branch offense Wednesday.

The Falcons pounded out 19 hits against three Johnson pitchers in taking an 18-5 Region 7-AAA win at Johnson Field.

The top five hitters in the Falcons lineup had 14 hits and 14 RBI, led by James Wilson and Bucky Free, who had four hits apiece. Wilson led the Falcons with five RBI.

However, Johnson freshman pitcher Win Griffeth held the Falcons to just two runs through the first three innings when it was just a 2-1 game. It was in the fourth that the Falcons brought out the bats.

“(Griffeth) pitched pretty well and had a good curve ball going,” Flowery Branch coach Jimmy Lawler said. “We made some adjustments in the fourth inning and we were finally able to break through. I was pleased with how we played after that.”

For Lawler, the win was even more important because the Falcons are battling with four other teams for third and fourth place in the region. The rest of Wednesday's 7-AAA schedule was canceled, which puts the Falcons in an advantageous position. The forecast calls for rain the rest of the week which means makeup games will have to be played on the first available date, usually forcing teams to play on back-to-back or even three straight days.

“Being able to get this game in was huge for us because we don’t know if we’ll get our game in on Friday,” he said. “It’s tough on the pitching when you have to play on consecutive days so this was important to finish. I think this really help us since we will only have one game at the most to possibly make up.”

Flowery Branch scored 16 runs in the final four innings and 11 runs in the final two innings to put the game out of reach. The explosion came after the Knights (1-12, 1-10) rallied to within two runs in the fifth to trail just 7-5.

For Johnson coach Tony Wilson, it was a far too familiar scene.

“I was pleased that we answered a couple of times but we’re not playing consistent enough to win right now,” Wilson said. “We need to concentrate for a full seven innings to compete. Until we do that it’s going to be tough to get wins.”

Griffeth pitched far better than his final numbers (3.1 IP, 9H, 4K, 4BB, 7ER). Fletcher Whiting and Nick Denard allowed 11 runs in relief but the defense allowed six unearned runs in 3 2/3 innings.

For Flowery Branch, James Wilson earned the win going four innings allowing three hits and three runs – two earned – while striking out three. Brent Luther and Ryan Norris pitched well in relief allowing just two runs and retiring seven of the final eight Johnson batters.

Flowery Branch jumped out to a quick 2-0 lead in the first inning as four of the first five batters reached. Brad Stone and John Fitzgerald had back-to-back walks to start the game and James Wilson and Jordan Wilson followed with RBI hits aided by the fog. The Falcons, however, could not add on leaving the bases loaded.

The Knights cut it to 2-1 in the bottom of the first when Trae Wilson doubled into the fog and later scored on a Flowery Branch error.

In the third inning Flowery Branch left the bases loaded as Griffeth struck out Logan Conley to keep the game at 2-1. The Falcons stranded seven runners through the first five innings. However, Flowery Branch blew the game open in the fourth scoring five runs on six straight hits, capped by a solo home run from Jordan Wilson for a 7-1 lead.

Johnson cut the lead to 7-3 in the bottom of the fourth on a Flowery Branch error and a sacrifice fly from Nick Denard. The Knights continued to chip into the lead as Chris White drove in two runs with two outs on a single in the fifth to cut the lead to 7-5.

The Falcons put the game away in the sixth scoring seven runs on six hits, three walks, and one costly Johnson error for a 14-5 lead. Robby Boudreau had a big two-RBI double and Stone, Fitzgerald, James Wilson, and Free each had RBIs in the inning. The Falcons added four more runs in the seventh.

For Flowery branch, Fitzgerald finished with three hits, three RBI, and scored three runs and Preston Bostic had two hits and one RBI in the ninth spot. Jordan Wilson finished with two hits, including his home run, while Stone, Matt Pilgrim, and Boudreau each had one hit for the Falcons.

Johnson was paced by White, who finished with two hits and two RBI. Christian Duguay, Trae Wilson, Logan Pethel, and Whiting all had one hit each for the Knights, Denard had one RBI for Johnson.