VETERANS BASEBALL SWEEPS NORTHSIDE AFTER FRIDAY’S DOUBLE HEADER
The Warhawks went into the doubleheader with a 17-0 win against the Eagles Tuesday and continued to fan that flame with two more wins Friday.
By BAYLOR GARRETT, Dreamer Journalism
31 March 2023
KATHLEEN, Ga. — The Veterans Warhawks soundly defeated The Northside Eagles in a three-game series sweep Friday.
The series began Tuesday in a 17-0 Warhawk win and ended Friday with two more wins for Veterans 8-7 and 10-2.
Going into the double header, things seemed to be in the Warhawks’ favor, but Veterans’ Coach Jeff Sans wasn’t focused on that pre-game.
“It’s hard to feel bad after Tuesday for sure,” Sans said. “But Northside is better than they showed the other night and we didn’t see their ace. We have to play the game right and get locked in for 14 innings tonight.”
The first game of the night started off with Veterans running the show 5-1 going into the fifth inning, until Northside combatted with six runs. The Eagles went on to play stellar defense in the bottom of the inning making the score 7-5 going into the top of the sixth.
Things started to fall into place for Northside, but The Warhawks had other plans. Coach Sans accredited their initial spark to Joshua Chavous and Bryce Dryden.
“It was our young guys that led off the sixth with a couple of hits,” Sans said. “Then we played a little small ball and got a couple key hits from our older guys. Sometimes momentum takes over in the dugout and good things happen.”
The Warhawks closed out the first game in the double header by scoring 3 runs in the sixth and then playing tight defense in the top of the seventh with two strikeouts and a fly out.
The second match of the double header, final match of the series, started with no signs of slowing down for Veterans. With momentum from the first game, and fantastic pitching by Cody Daugherty with 10 strikeouts and only allowing two runs on two hits, The Warhawks were able to get the job done.
The Warhawks struck early with two runs in the first inning and five runs in the second. Veterans then scored another run in the fourth. The energy from the end of the first match continued on for the Warhawks as Northside didn’t strike back until scoring two runs in top of the fifth inning making the score 8-2.
Veterans added two more runs to the scoreboard in the bottom of the sixth inning and closed the game with no runs by Northside in the top of the seventh.
The future for the Warhawks baseball program seems bright with a young team and a new foundation. Sans is focusing on building a team that is built on respect and unity.
“We have preached all year that we will respect each other, the game and our opponents, and a major part of doing that is by playing hard for each other and playing the game fast and right,” Sans said. “This team and these seniors will be the start of a program that will last. A program that people will look at and work to emulate. It is going to be a journey, but one that we will take and is built on the backs of this year’s guys.”
Both teams are in 6A Region 1 and each have one more region series left. After the outcome of these games, neither will move up nor down in region standings. Veterans is currently ranked fifth and Northside is ranked sixth.
Veterans improved to 11-12 overall; 3-9 in region play, while Northside fell to 3-21 overall; 0-12 in region play.
