Bulldogs vs Indians in Elite 8

The ECI baseball team advanced to the Elite 8 round of the state playoffs last week, winning the best of 3 series against Trion. Today, Wednesday May 7, they are hosting Charlton Co. at Joe Harvey Field. First game of the double header today has a 3:30 start time with second game scheduled for 6 p.m. The ‘If Needed” game has a first pitch 5:00 start time on Thurs-day.

The Bulldogs and Indians are no strangers having played in 4 different series in the last few years in the state playoffs. The last time was in the 2023 state championship game at Clem-ents Stadium field at Georgia Southern. Charlton won the best of 3 championship series two games to one.

Charlton advanced to the Elite 8 by sweeping Pelham last week, 10-0 and 14-1. Charlton, ranked second with MaxPreps, has a season record of 30-4 and was edged out of the region championship by a game by Lanier Co. who is ranked third. MaxPreps has ECI ranked fourth with undefeated Baconton Charter at number one.

ECI and Trion split the doubleheader last week to open up the second round of the playoffs. ECI won the first game Tuesday 7-6. Trion took the must win second game, 7-5, to push the series to a winner take all third game on Wednesday. The Bulldogs won the third game the series on last Wednesday 10-6 to advance to the third round and home field advantage against the Indians. The Bulldogs have been living on the edge in the playoffs. They have fallen behind in all five games giving up 11 first inning runs against Treutlen and Trion. But as this Bulldog team has shown all season long, no deficit seems too big for them to over-come, bouncing back in all 5 games and advance to the third round.

It was a 3-game series of pitcher attrition for both ECI and Trion. There were more trips to the mound than an ant bed on workday with a combined total of 19 pitching changes dur-ing the series.

The power hitting Bulldogs from Trion hit 16 homeruns during the season and put the Bull-dogs down early in the opening game with a 3-run shot to put ECI down 3-0 in the first in-ning. True to form, the Bulldogs bounced back in the bottom of the third to knot the game, 3-3. The Bulldogs took their first lead of the day one inning later. With Davis Johnson and Tuff Boddiford on to lead off the fourth, Jackson Kennedy laced a single to center to score both runners for a 5-3 Bulldog lead. Trion came back in the fifth with two runs of their own to tie the game 5-5. The tie was short lived as the Bulldogs added 2 more runs in the bottom of the fifth to take a 7-5 lead. It was a scoreless seventh as the Bulldogs won the important first game 7-5. Trion won the must win second game, for them, in the eighth inning 7-6 to push the series to a third game on Wednesday.

Just like the first game, Trion scratched the scoreboard first for a 1-0 lead in the second in-ning. The Bulldogs used small ball to tie the game in the top of third inning. Gabe Lee led off with a walk and moved to second on a Davis Johnson sac bunt. Lee scored one batter later on a Tuff Boddiford single for a 1-1 score. Trion put the Bulldogs in a big hole scoring 2 in the fourth and 3 in the fifth to put ECI down 6-2 with 2 innings to play. The resilient Bull-dogs weren’t going away. They scratched and clawed to score 1 in the sixth and tied the game in the seventh with 3 more runs putting the game into extra innings. The Bulldogs had a runner in scoring position in the top of the eighth but couldn’t get the 2 out hit to push the run across.

Trion wasn’t ready to take the 5-hour trip back home Tuesday. They loaded the bases in the bottom of the eighth and won the second game 7-6 on a sac fly. Trion hit their second home-run of the series with a leadoff in the top of the first inning Thursday. The Bulldogs tied the game 1-1 on the bottom of the inning. The Bulldogs found themselves in another hole when the visiting team scored 4 more in the top of third to lead 5-1. ECI drew closer in the third and fourth putting 3 runs on the board to make the score 5-4 Trion. Trion scored their last run of the series in the top of the fourth to put ECI down by 2 runs. Trailing 6-4 in the bot-tom of the sixth, the-never-give-up Bulldogs scored 6 runs to take a 10-6 lead. Gabe Lee led off the inning with a double and Davis Johnson followed with a walk. Tuff Boddiford scored both with a double to make the score 6-5. Jackson Kennedy tied the game with a single to score Johnson. Trion walked in the go ahead run hitting batter Ab Marsh with the bases loaded. James Parker’s single scored two more runs. Jud Underwood sac fly put the last run on the board in the game as ECI won the third game of the series 10-6.

Region 3 has two teams still playing in the Elite 8. Along with ECI vs the second ranked Charlton Co. Indians, Metter will face third ranked Lanier Co. Both Charlton and Lanier play out of region 2.