Lowndes continues Colquitt shutout streak
Mar. 25—VALDOSTA — Lowndes High School continued its shutout streak over Colquitt County in Thursday's doubleheader, with a grand slam from junior Coleman Lewis sending the Packers home early.
Colquitt County's Packers have found themselves in a challenging situation as they grapple with a two-season-long struggle to score against the formidable Lowndes High School Vikings. With a staggering point difference of 48-0 after their most recent meeting.
After traveling to Colquitt County on the 19th and taking game one, Lowndes' Vikings finished the regional set at home with a day-early doubleheader to avoid rain. Following the trend from last season, the Colquitt County Packers faced a tough challenge, culminating in junior Lewis' grand slam.
In the first game of the evening, Ashton Bohler took to the mound to pitch seven scoreless innings in a complete game, holding the Packers to only three hits. Bohler struck out seven while giving two freebies.
Colquitt County's pitcher Logan Plymel also limited the Vikings to three hits. Plymel had four strikeouts against the Vikings and gave up two walks. Tate Sirmans, Lewis, and Nate Slaughter collected the Vikings' hits in game one.
The game's big hit came off the bat of Slaughter on a two-run bomb to centerfield that also plated Lewis. That would be all the runs Lowndes would need to win game one versus Colquitt County 2-0.
On the nightcap, the Vikings completed their sweep of the Packers, raising their overall record to 16-3 and their region record to 5-1.
Matthew Kerrigan got the start in game two for the Vikings and threw a five-inning mercy rule complete game. Kerrigan amassed six strikeouts while only allowing one hit and two base on balls. This shutout is the sixth consecutive shutout over the Packers in the last two seasons.
Game two quickly got out of hand for the Packers with a final score of 13-0. The Lowndes Vikings started their scoring early as the Packers' starting pitcher, Cook Tompkins, could not record an out and gave freebies to the first three hitters of Lowndes' lineup.
The Packers called on Cole Holder in relief as the Lowndes Vikings took a 5-0 lead in the first frame. The big hits in the inning came from Lowndes' Noah Thigpen with a two-RBI single and an RBI single from Ty Macera.
The Vikings' offense strikes again in the third inning, plating three. Sirmans drove in Fletcher to score with an RBI single. With two outs in the third, Carson Page dropped a two-RBI bomb to left field to put the Vikings up 8-0.
After a scoreless four, the Vikings put an exclamation point and completion to the ball game in inning five. The Packers switched pitchers to Gabe Eubanks in the field inning, and he could not record an out.
The inning began with a single by Jude Jaramillo and was followed by three consecutive walks. The ballgame came to a close after Lewis took to the plate to launch a massive Grand Slam to center field, enacting the mercy rule, and the Vikings won 13-0.
The Vikings get a break from regional play this week. On Monday, they will face the Jeff Davis Yellow Jackets in Hazlehurst. They will also play on the road Tuesday against Trinity Christian Academy in Jacksonville, Florida. They will return home on Friday to play host the Columbia Tigers from Lake City, Florida. The Vikings will resume regional play against Camden on April 2nd.
