Dorman, Devils defeat defending state champs

Published 10:00 pm Wednesday, March 2, 2022

TIFTON – John Dorman did a bit of everything Wednesday evening and the Tift County Blue Devils earned a late win over the invading Jeff Davis Yellow Jackets.

Dorman threw a complete game and collected three hits, all of which turned into runs.

Jeff Davis had entered the contest having won the last two GHSA Class AA state championships and three of the last four played. The Devils improve to 7-0 with the win, their best since a 9-0 start in 2014.

“That was a quality win right there,” said head coach Greg Williams. He said the Devils had received an excellent scouting report on Jeff Davis. “We executed everything that we talked about.”

Tift had a 1-0 lead in the 1st and a 2-1 advantage after four frames before the Jackets tied it in the 6th.

Dorman led off the bottom half of the inning with a single up the middle. With Gavin Starling on as Dorman’s courtesy runner, Cody Williamson skied a ball to deep center. The ball bounced off the fielder’s glove and all hands were safe.

With runners at second and third, Lino Acosta blistered a base hit to center. Starling and Williamson came around and the Blue Devils had the lead back.

“That was huge,” Williams said.

Jeff Davis settled down there and Hayden Turner struck out two before a fly to shortstop ended the inning without further damage.

Dorman came out for the top of the 7th and gave Williams no reason to consider the bullpen. The first two Jeff Davis men returned to the bench via the strikeout route before John Davis put the squeeze on a fly to center to end the game.

Jeff Davis was retired 1-2-3 in the top of the 1st frame. Tift seemed likely to do the same after two quick outs, but Dorman reached on a single.

A pick-off attempt there went awry and Starling, running for Dorman, coasted into second. That was enough for Williamson to pick up an RBI when he singled into no man’s land behind third base.

Three straight singles by Cason Clance, Kade Harpe and Carter Mullis put Jeff Davis in business in the 3rd with one out, but Dorman got out of it with minimal damage.

Ethan Griffin flied out to center to score Clance, but that’s all the Yellow Jackets received as the next man grounded out to Acosta at third.

Soon after, Tift was at work again, manufacturing another run.

Dorman tapped an infield single to begin the 4th and, once again, Starling moved up a base on a pick-off attempt. Williamson walked and both he and Starling advanced a base on an Acosta sacrifice bunt.

Jeff Davis got the second out of the inning on a short fly, but Landon Parrish came to the rescue.

Parrish popped up high enough for a Jacket infielder to overrun it, the ball landing between the mound and first base line.

That gave Tift a 2-1 lead, one that stuck when Williamson was caught during an attempted double steal.

Alex Mason doubled in the 7th, scoring on Matthew Glass’ single. An error put on two men with no outs, but that’s when the inning began to get a bit strange.

Dorman threw out the lead runner at third on an attempted sacrifice bunt, which became a double play without another throw.

Williams called over the umpires at the end of the play and after an appeal, the batter was called out for a substitution violation. Instead of two on and one out, Dorman now had one on and two out. A grounder to Tyler Holmes at second ended their half of the 6th.

Williamson had two hits to go along with Dorman’s three. Acosta tallied two RBIs.

Dorman needed only 82 pitches in the game. He struck out four while walking none.

It was a rare night that Tift stole no bases, Williams crediting Jeff Davis for eliminating that portion of their game.

“[Mason] was quick to the plate,” said Williams of Jeff Davis’ starter on the hill. “The catcher’s a senior … you gotta win ballgames when you can’t steal bases.”

“I didn’t want to run us out of an inning,” he said. “Can’t make the first mistake.”

Instead, it was Jeff Davis who blinked.

The Blue Devils will play Baker County, Fla., Friday at home at 4 p.m. On Saturday, they take on West Nassau, Fla., at 5:30 p.m.