Druid Hills Banks Coffman slides headfirst at home to beat a throw following a wild pitch. Coffman had three RBIs in Druid Hills Class 4A state playoff series sweep on Wednesday. (Photo by Mark Brock)
Druid Hills got 13 innings out of their starting pitching on the way to a 7-4, 6-2 sweep of the Jefferson Dragons in a pair of Class 4A opening playoff series games to advance to the Sweet 16 for the second consecutive season.
The series win moves the Red Devils into a match up with Region 4 No. 1 seed Perry, a 5-1, 6-0 winner over Shaw, at Perry on May 3-4. Game times for Tuesday are 4 and 7 pm and if third game is necessary on Wednesday, 5 pm.
Druid Hills opened by rallying from a 2-0 fourth inning deficit for a 7-4 victory over Jefferson in the opening game at Druid Hills Middle School Field.
The Red Devils put up five runs in the bottom of the fourth to take lead as the first five batters reached base including RBI hits by Colin Ross and Banks Coffman. Sacrifice bunts by Dylan Akins and Ian O’Connor scored two more runs. Coffman would finish the scoring with a sliding headfirst on a wild pitch to make it 5-2.
Pitcher Cullen Riel drove in a run in the fifth and Cody Akins drove in another in the sixth as insurance runs.
Jefferson picked up single runs in the fifth and seventh for the final of 7-4.
Druid Hills first game pitcher Culle Riel celebrates one of his 10 strikeouts in the Game 1 victory for Druid Hills over Jefferson. (Photo by Mark Brock)
Riel went 6 and 1/3 innings and struck out 10 Jefferson batters to get the win. Finn Blackmon closed the door in the top of the seventh for Druid Hills.
The Red Devils closed out the series with a 7-2 win in the second game of the doubleheader at Druid Hills.
Colin Ross pitched a complete game to lead the victory for the Red Devils who led 3-0 after the first inning and never trailed.
The Akins triplets played a key role in the win accounting for four of the seven runs in the win. Dylan Akins had a RBI single, Cody Akins added a big two-run triple and scored a run and Nick Akins scored another of the runs.
Banks Coffman has big two-run single in the top of the seventh to expand the lead to 7-2 and giving the Red Devils a cushion. Ross finished off the seventh inning on the mound to clinch the sweep.
In other Class 4A first round action, the Arabia Mountain Rams (11-12-1) fell 14-4 and 9-2 at Flowery Branch (20-10) to finish their season.
DeKalb’s Class 5A entries dropped their series as well. Chamblee (15-14) fell 4-3 in eight innings in their first game with Cartersville and 14-6 in series clincher for the Hurricanes (25-5). Southwest DeKalb (18-10) fell 4-2 and 21-0 to Blessed Trinity in their series on the road.
DEKALB BASEBALL STATE PLAYOFF SCHEDULE
Wednesday, April 27
CLASS 7A FIRST ROUND (Best of Three Series)
Dunwoody (17-11) 7, Alpharetta (13-16) 5
Alpharetta (14-16) 7, Dunwoody (17-12) 5
Series tied 1-1
CLASS 6A FIRST ROUND (Best of Three Series)
Glynn Academy (23-7) 10, Tucker (18-10) 5
Tucker (19-10) 8, Glynn Academy (23-8) 7
Series Tied at 1-1
Richmond Hill (22-7) 12, Lakeside (18-12) 2
Richmond Hill (23-7) 15, Lakeside (18-13) 3
Richmond Hill wins series 2-0
CLASS 5A FIRST ROUND (Best of Three Series)
Blessed Trinity (21-9) 4, SW DeKalb (18-9) 2
Blessed Trinity (22-9) 21, SW DeKalb (18-10) 0
Blessed Trinity wins series 2-0
Cartersville (24-5) 4, Chamblee (15-13) 3 (8 innings)
Cartersville (25-5) 14, Chamblee (15-14) 6
Cartersville wins series 2-0
CLASS 4A FIRST ROUND (Best of Three Series)
Druid Hills (16-6) 7, Jefferson (16-13) 4
Druid Hills (17-6) 7, Jefferson (16-14) 2
Druid Hills wins series 2-0
Flowery Branch (19-10) 14, Arabia Mountain (11-11-1) 4
Flowery Branch (20-10) 9, Arabia Mountain (11-12-1) 2
Flowery Branch wins series 2-0
Thursday, April 28
CLASS 7A FIRST ROUND (Best of Three Series)
Alpharetta (14-16) at Dunwoody (17-12), 6:00 pm
CLASS 6A FIRST ROUND (Best of Three Series)
Tucker (19-10) at Glynn Academy (23-8), 1:00 pm
Friday, April 29
CLASS 3A FIRST ROUND (Best of Three Series)
Dawson County (19-11) at Redan (20-4), DH, 3:00 p.m.
CLASS 2A FIRST ROUND (Best of Three Series)
Towers (11-8) at Banks County (14-10), DH, 5:00 p.m.
Saturday, April 30
CLASS 3A FIRST ROUND (Best of Three Series)
Dawson County (19-11) at Redan (20-4), 2:00 p.m., if necessary
CLASS 2A FIRST ROUND (Best of Three Series)
Towers (11-8) at Banks County (14-10), 11:00 am, if necessary
Tuesday, May 3
CLASS 4A SECOND ROUND
Druid Hills (17-6) at Perry (24-9), DH, 4:00/7:00 pm
Tuesday, May 3
CLASS 4A SECOND ROUND
Druid Hills (17-6) at Perry (24-9), 5:00 pm, if necessary
Admission Cost: Adults/Students $10.00 Doubleheader
Adults/Students $7.00 Single Game If Necessary