Published Sunday, April 29, 2012

Hawks blank Trinity in last warmup before region title game

From STAFF REPORTS

sports@newnan.com

Adding a 7-0 shutout victory over county and future region rival Trinity Christian, The Heritage School baseball team might be as ready as even for Monday’s Region 4-AA championship game.

The Hawks will get a rematch with Christian Heritage on Monday at 4:30 p.m., at Hunter Park in Douglasville. The teams will be using a neutral site to determine this year’s region title after swapping one-run victories at home fields during the regular season.

Heritage, which improved to 15-3 overall, opened the year with an 8-7 comeback win over the Dalton school, before being unable to rally again on the road in a 4-3 loss.

Monday’s winner earned a No. 1 seed in the GISA Class AA playoffs beginning Friday with a best of three series.

Both teams are guaranteed to open the postseason at home.

On Saturday, despite missing junior center-fielder Candler Rich to the GISA State Track and Field Championships in Albany, the Hawks found plenty of offense while scoring five times in their first three at bats.

Both Luke Crook and Brad Macke finished with a pair of hits and Crook led the way with 3 RBIs in the win.

Heritage scored two runs in the first and fifth and did the majority of its damage in the bottom of the third against Trinity with a three-run rally.

Brian McKinney threw a complete-game shutout for the Hawks, allowing five hits and three walks.

Crook’s two-run double scored Brad Macke and Tyler Nix in the first after each reached with base hits.

Macke began a third-inning rally that eventually loaded the bases with a single, with two runs scoring on an outfield error. Ryan Lynch had an RBI single in the fifth and Mack Wilkins also drove a run home with a hit during the victory.

Heritage’s JV team also finished its season on Saturday with a 9-0 record after getting a victory on the mound from Rich Yancey.