The Pickens baseball team continued its mission through the AAA state playoffs last week with a third-round sweep of West Laurens by the scores of 3-1 and 5-0.
By virtue of the two-game sweep over the Raiders, the Dragons advanced to the state semi-finals against Calhoun (30-6) that began Tuesday in a three-game series. Pickens led Calhoun in the best-of-three showdown. If a third game is necessary, it will be played on Friday at Calhoun with the first pitch at 5:30 p.m.
The West Laurens series was close from the first pitch, as the two teams combined for only 6 hits in the game, but the Dragons made the most of their five hits in the third inning. After Cason Pollock homered to left field with two outs in the top of the second inning for a 1-0 West Laurens lead, the Dragons answered back with three runs of their own in the bottom of the third inning for what amounted to all the game’s runs and a 3-1 lead.
With one out in the inning, Pickens got a walk from Matthew Davis, a double by Robert Turner and a single by Jennings Allen for a 2-1 lead. A.J. Rice then followed one out later with a sharp single up the middle to cap off the inning. No player had more than a one hit in the game and the Dragons only had one walk for the game.
On the mound, Rice bumped his record to 11-0 on the year by allowing only one hit in the complete game victory. He struck out 13 and walked four in the game.
“That first game win was big for us,” said head coach Adam Williams. “We were down early but came up with a solid third inning to get back on top and gave A.J. (Rice) the lead. We seemed to settle down after that and played a solid game the rest of the way.”
Game two started with a bang Pickens, playing at the visitor, scored three times in the top of the first inning for a quick 3-0 advantage. The Dragons, who posted only six hits for the game had consecutive singles from Turner and Allen to start the game before Kam Jenkins was hit by a pitch to load the bases with nobody out. Rice then hit a sacrifice fly to plate the game’s first run before Truitt Grubbs drove in the second run with a ground ball and a double steal later in the inning allowed Caden Kirchoff to score from third base for the three-run edge.
Pickens would then wrap up the scoring in the third inning when Jenkins and Rice pieced together a single and a double to put runners on second and third base with one out. After Truitt Grubbs walked, Christian Starks singled sharply to left field to plate Kirchoff and Rice for the final 5-0 margin.
Those would be the only runs needed from the Dragons’ pitching staff, as Starks pitched four hitless innings with four strikeouts to earn the win while Turner and Everett Grubbs combined to pitch the final three innings and struck out four to close out the win and the series.
“The overriding goal at this time of the year is to simply win and advance,” said Williams. “You don’t get style points or credit for almost winning. You just have to figure out what the best plan of attack is to win the series and give it your best shot. We have been fortunate to play a large number of postseason games with this group, and they have proven they can handle adversity and tough situations. They are truly a special group of players.”
The numbers would back up those sentiments for the Dragons, who now sport a stellar 33-3 overall record on the year. Pickens has now won seven games in-a-row and won 12 of 13 games to close the year. By virtue of the sweep the Dragons also put the finishing touches on a perfect 24-0 home record for the season. Since the 2023 season, Pickens is 20-8 in the playoffs and have now reached the Final Four each of the past two seasons.
The state championship is scheduled to take place between May 22, 23 and 25 in a best-of-three series. The location for the championship series will likely be in Rome with the specific dates determined once the two finalists are determined.
