Pirates to play for state title

The Pirates are headed to the AA State Championship game for the first time ever after defeating the Lovett Lions 6-1 in the third game of the series. Game one of the championship series will be played in Buford on Saturday, May 28 at 4 p.m. with game two starting at 7 p.m. If you can’t make the trip to Buford, check pikecountygeorgia.com for real-time updates from the games.The Pirates played a double header Monday night in the Final Four against Lovett winning game one 9-2 and losing a close game two 7-6. Greg Parrott provided real-time updates from the game.FIRST GAME Monday, May 23:FINAL SCORE: Pirates 9, Lions 2SECOND GAME Monday, May 23:FINAL SCORE: Lions 7, Pirates 6THIRD GAME Tuesday, May 24FINAL SCORE: Pirates 6, Lions 1GAME 3:First Inning: Pirates 0, Lions 0Second Inning: Pirates 1, Lions 0Third Inning: Pirates get two hits, but no runs in the top of the third. A stand-up double by Lovett starts the bottom of the third inning. Ground ball moves runner to third. Batter hit by ball puts runners at the corner, runner steals second. Ground ball, runner scores tying up the game at 1-1. Ground ball for out number three. Pirates 1, Lions 1Fourth Inning: Pirates 1, Lions 1Fifth Inning: Base hit puts Pirates runner on first. He steals second. Batter called out during bunt, having stepped on home plate. Ball hit right at pitcher who was hit by the ball, putting runners at the corners. Fly ball, second out with two runners on base. Run scores on an error, Pirates runners on first and third with two outs. Ground ball to third base is bobbled, error loads the bases with the score 2-1 Pirates. Lions pitcher hit again, another Pirates player scores to make it 3-1.Sixth Inning: Base hit puts runner on first. Base hit makes the score 4-1 with runners on first and second. Ball hit to right field dropped and runner scores from second, Pirates lead 5-1. Ground ball base hit scores another run, making it 6-1 with runners at the corners. Relief pitcher called in. Error loads bases. Runner tagged out at home. First Lions player strikes out in the bottom of the sixth. Ground ball for out number two. Third Lions batter goes down swinging. Pirates 6, Lions 1. Seventh inning: First Pirates batter strikes out. Second Pirates player walked. Ground ball to third ends the top of the seventh inning with a double play. Pirates 6, Lions 1. Ground ball to first base is the first Lions out. Fly ball to center is second out. Pirates one out from going to state playoffs for the first time in the school’s history. Pirates strike out the Lions last player and the Pirates are headed to Buford for the State AA Championship Saturday. Pirates are 30-6 on the season.SECOND GAME OF SERIES:Second inning scoring:2nd inning: Pirates trail Lions 1-4 for the first time in the series after some costly hits and one error.3rd inning: Pirates score on Kody Adams double to make it 2-4 with 0 outs and one on base. Chris Long at bat with runners on first and third. One runs scores with runners at first and second with one out, making it 3-4. Hit to left field loads the bases with one out. Ground ball to second, one Pirate scores to make it 4-4. Ground ball out ends inning with a tied score. Bottom of third: No runs, one hit, no errors. Still tied 4-4.4th inning: Line drive double. No runs, one hit, still tied at 4-4. Bottom of 4th, fly ball out with runners at second and third. Ground ball out. Strike out to end the bottom of the fourth, 4-4. Chris Long swinging strike out. Pop fly, two outs. Basehit to right field. Strike out for third out, game still tied at 4-4 in the best of three series.5th inning: Pirates down 6-4.6th inning: Base hit puts Pirates on first. Base hit puts Pirates on first and second. Dribble hit, player out at first, runners on second and third. Nate Ferrell gets a base hit, two runs score. Pirates tie it up 6-6. A walk puts two on base. Another walk loads the bases. Ground ball ends the inning, 6-6.UPDATE: Spalding advances to state championship on a walk-off grand slam. 7th inning: Ground ball means one out for Lions with players on base. By Greg ParrottThe Pike County Pirates baseball team did it the hard way. Blessed Trinity swashbuckled the Pirates in game one by a score of 18-4. Game two saw the Pirates bounce back with a 5-4 win. This forced a game three where the Pirates dealt an 11-7 defeat to the Titans. This will be the first appearance for the Pirates in the AA Final 4. The Pirates have made it to the Elite 8 several times, falling short by a few runs. ’Our team played hard and never gave up or in,’ said coach Don Hanson. ‘We came back time after time. We could’ve given the ship up but we sailed through inning after inning. Blessed Trinity was a great team. They could hit as well as any team we’ve faced all season long. We’ll now look to host Lovett on Monday. They beat a good Jeff Davis squad and will be a team that’s fundamentally sound. They are six-time state champions so they know what it’s like in big games.’Should the Pirates move on to the state championship Saturday, May 28, the Pirates would travel to Buford or host Appling County depending on who wins that series.