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Randall Beasley
Click to enlarge photos.By Greg Oshust
Marietta Daily Journal Sports Writer
KENNESAW - A nine-run inning by Brookwood in the top of the fifth proved to be the fatal blow for Kennesaw Mountain as the No. 2 Mustangs fell to the top-ranked Broncos, 15-2, in a battle of the top two ranked teams in Class AAAAA on Thursday.
The Mustangs could not score a run in their half of the fifth and the game was halted due to the mercy rule.
Brookwood's nine-run outburst in the fifth, combined with a four-run third inning proved to be the difference, with the Broncos nearly sending up its entire batting order twice in the fifth.
"Any game, you have to be careful not to give up the big inning," Kennesaw Mountain coach George Hansen said. "I do give credit to Brookwood. They were very disciplined and they got the hits."
It was the second loss in a row for Kennesaw Mountain (6-3), which lost, 5-4, to Lassiter on Tuesday.
Brookwood, too, was coming off a loss, a 12-10 setback Tuesday at McEachern.
T.J. Eifert (1-1) took the loss on the mound for Kennesaw Mountain, pitching 2 1/3 innings and giving up all four of Brookwood's runs in the third, while Alex Beebe (2-0) was the winning pitcher for the Broncos.
Adkins led off the top of the fifth for Brookwood with a single, with Ronnie Freeman getting on first on an error by Kennesaw Mountain shortstop Ethan Herron and Chase Hawkins doubled to score Freeman to increase the Broncos' lead to 7-2.
After Jones was hit by a pitch and Jon Robinson singled, Erisman hit his second home run of the game for a 10-2 Brookwood lead.
Hefley walked, advanced to second and third on wild pitches and scored on a sacrifice fly by Chris Paul to make the score 11-2.
Wade Brogden got on first on an error by Herron, Stephan Neidigh walked and Jones got on first on an error by first baseman Zach Lowery, with Brogden and Neidigh scoring for a 13-2 Brookwood lead.
Grayson Flack then doubled to score Jones and Robinson singled to score Flack to complete the scoring for Brookwood.
Brookwood began the top of the third inning with back-to-back home runs by Jordan Erisman and Ross Hefley to increase its lead to 4-1, then Ryan Lewis singled and Seth Adkins tripled to score Lewis to make it 5-1.
Adkins later scored on a double by Buddy Jones to boost Brookwood's lead to 6-1.
"Those two innings made a huge difference," Brookwood coach Rick Howard said. "We knew Kennesaw Mountain knew how to swing the bats and they knew how to chip away at the ball, so we were concerned with that. Alex Beebe threw a great ballgame for us."
Brookwood scored one run each in the first two innings to take a 2-0 lead before Kennesaw Mountain scored in the bottom of the second on an RBI-single by Zach Lowery that scored Jordan Craft to cut the Broncos lead to 2-1.
Kennesaw Mountain scored its other run of the game in the bottom of the third as Michael Lonati scored on a sacrifice fly by Herron to cut Brookwood's lead to 6-2.
Kennesaw Mountain will go on the road to play Wheeler today at 5:55 p.m.
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Wow..another "top story" on K-Mountain. Just imagine how much press they would be getting if they had actually won the State Championship!!!Didn't another school from COBB COUNTY win the STATE??? Unless your kid goes to K-Mt, I think we're all pretty sick of reading about their every move!