TIFTON – Hillgrove High School ventured down south for a pair of baseball games Wednesday and enjoyed their trip.

The Hawks, natives of Powder Springs, defeated the Tift County Blue Devils, 9-0, in the second game of a doubleheader of sorts. Earlier in the day, Hillgrove outlasted Colquitt County, 2-1. Both games were played at Devil Diamond.

Neither team recorded a 1-2-3 inning and Tift walked six times, but Hawks’ pitchers were able to limit hits.

Hillgrove scored two runs in the first inning, but reliever Layton Abbott shut the door over the next two. Abbott cruised along until the bottom of the fourth, but the visitors put together a two-out rally that scored two more.

Two more runs crossed in the fifth and three in the seventh.

Jason Hayden initially put his team on the scoreboard with a first inning single that drove in Jack Tilton. Later, Cameron Powser came around on an RBI hit by Lorenzo Atwell.

Tift put two runners on in the first inning, but not at the same time, thanks to Hillgrove’s defense. Leadoff man Bryce Stephens was hit by a pitch, but erased on a double play. Lino Acosta earned the first of his three walks with two outs, but advanced no further.

Abbott, who struck out the first man he saw, added five to his tally over the next three frames before Hillgrove went hot again.

Back-to-back hits by Powser and Zach Wieder, coupled with a pair of steals, brought in Hayden and Powser in the fourth. One inning later, it was Caleb Shannon and Seth Wright doing the scoring

The Blue Devils tried to a work a bit of two-out magic of their own in the bottom of the fifth. Acosta earned a base on balls and Bailey Booth singled. Cameron Sumner walked to fill the bags, but Hillgrove’s Brady Hoffman stopped them there, getting a grounder to end the inning.

Tilton, Davis McCravy and Hayden came across for Hillgrove in the seventh.

Sam Thompson went 2-for-3 for Tift on the night and Ryan Mercer had a second inning double. Booth’s single completed the Devils’ hits.

There were two defensive gems by the hosts during the game. Catcher Booth covered plenty of ground catching a foul by the backstop netting in the third.

In the first inning, Acosta and Stephens combined for an atypical tag out.

A sharp ground ball went off Acosta’s glove at third and popped into the air. Shortstop Stephens jumped and came down with it. Acosta, not giving up on the play, returned to third and Stephens fired to him to get a runner short of the base.