Blue Devils rally past Braves in region opener

(Franklin, GA) — Fans and participants alike braved some very cold temperatures Tuesday evening as the Braves hosted the Bremen Blue Devils in the first Region 5-AA baseball clash of the season.

The Braves started fast, but ultimately it was the visiting Blue Devils that walked away with a 6-4 extra inning win to open the three game series that will conclude with a doubleheader at Bremen this Friday.

Senior Will Hammett (Photo: Heard County Braves Baseball)

It was all Braves for the four innings with starting pitcher Tray Owens shutting down the Devils through the first four innings.

The Braves offense plated three runs in the bottom of the third with the key blow coming on a bases-loaded single from Leroy Marsh that drove home two.

The Devils would bounce back to score two in the top half of the fifth inning — taking advantage of a Brave defensive miscue in the outfield.

Bremen would punch another run across in the top of the seventh to force extra innings and would score three more in the top of the eighth.

The Braves put together a rally in the bottom half of the inning but an RBI single from catcher Will Hammett would score the lone run as the Devils took game one of the big series match-up between two top 10 teams in Class AA.

Hammett and Dale Thornhill each had two hits in the game and the Braves out hit the Devils 8-4. Thornhill and Owens each had doubles in the loss.

Owens had a solid effort on the mound tossing 6.1 innings while allowing just one earned run and striking out five. Brave head coach Trent Bianco looks for his team to bounce back strong for the crucial twin bill on the road Friday.

“Our pitching was there — Tray was great, Kellon came in there in a tough spot for a freshman and Leroy threw it well. Our pitching was good enough to win but when you only score four runs that’s on us — we’ve got to do a better job there and go back to work.”

Friday’s doubleheader at Bremen begins with a game one first pitch at 4:30 PM.