The Miller County Pirates won the Georgia Region 1-A baseball championship on Wednesday night in Colquitt, with a 12-2 drubbing of Baconton Charter School.
Miller County ace Cole Vann pitched five solid innings, only allowing two runs. Vann also hit two doubles, which brought home several runs for the Pirates.
| 4/22 @ 4:30p | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Baconton Charter | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 2 |
| Miller County | 4 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 13 | 3 |
Also contributing to the Pirates’ region championship was Justin Bradford, who hit a two-run double in the first inning. Miller County took an early lead by scoring 4 runs in the first inning, and didn’t look back from there. The 10-run “mercy rule” eventually stopped the game short.
The win is especially impressive given that the current Class A Power Rankings for public school baseball teams had Miller County as the #8 team in the state and Baconton as the #9 team.
Miller County had played Baconton Charter School once before this season, on a neutral field as part of a tournament in Columbus, Ga. The Pirates won that game 3-2.
After narrowing down the regular season competition, there were only four teams playing in the region baseball tournament; with the top two going to state. Miller County won the region semifinal game against Webster County by a score of 17-7.
All of the Miller County High School playoff baseball games can be heard on Live 101.9 FM, WBGE-Bainbridge.
Unique to Georgia Class A sports is a Power Rankings format that determines the seedings of state playoffs in baseball, football and basketball. Public schools have a different set of rankings than private schools, for purposes of playoffs, although public and private schools who belong to the Georgia High School Association can play each other during the regular season.
Miller County looks to improve its seeding in the state tournament by winning the region championship.
“When you win your region, you automatically slide up in the Power Rankings, so I expect the Pirates will probably move up to the #3 or #4 seed in the state tournament,” explained Kaleb Whitaker, who provides play-by-play coverage of Miller County baseball for Flint Media radio stations. “As the #3 or #4 seed, Miller County will get to host the first round of the state tournament at home, as well as the second round if they advance.”
The final Power Rankings won’t be released until Tuesday, April 28. There is a 24-hour period in which teams can appeal their placement on the rankings, because it affects their seeding in the state tournament.
Exactly which school Miller County will be playing in the 1st round won’t be confirmed until next Wednesday. However, fans can count on Miller County playing a double-header in Colquitt next Friday. If the two teams split the doubleheader, or there is bad weather, a game can also be played on Saturday.
All of the Miller County High School playoff baseball games can be heard on Live 101.9 FM, WBGE-Bainbridge.
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