NORTH CARROLLTON -- J.Z. George was able to squeeze its way into the MHSAA 3A playoffs, but the stay didn't last long. The Jaguars were swept in a doubleheader by Water Valley, 12-0 and 13-3.
Water Valley scored six runs each in the first and second innings of the first game. J.Z. George coach Wylie Rhodes said nerves were a factor.
“You could tell by the way we threw on the mound and how we hit at the plate that we were out of our element," Rhodes said. "The second game, once we settled down a bit, we hit the ball better.”
The Jaguars led the second game 3-2 until Water Valley scored seven runs in the bottom of the third. “We had one bad inning that kept it from being a close game,” Rhodes said.
Gavin Darby was the big story for Water Valley in the first game. He had a double, triple, homer and five RBIs and allowed one hit, with six strikeouts, on the mound.
Blayne Clark fanned 11 in five innings to pick up the win in the second game.
Water Valley, the regular season champion of 2-3A, will play Booneville in the second round.
J.Z. George qualified for the playoffs by sweeping a doubleheader from Amanda Elzy 5-2 and 17-6 in the final games of the regular season. The Jaguars needed to win both to edge Amanda Elzy for fourth place in Region 3-3A.
Josh Wiggins went the distance in the first game, allowing no earned runs with six strikeouts in five innings. Michael Bankston had the big hit for the Jaguars, a two-run single.
Josh Johnson accounted for eight runs in the nightcap with five RBIs and three runs scored. He doubled in two runs during a four-run first, led off an eight-run third with a single and later in the inning had a bases loaded double on a drive to the fence in left center. He then scored the final run of the inning on a double by Laike Shute, who reached base all three times with a single, double and walk.
Rhodes said it was the best offensive game of the season. “I think we had a really good approach at the plate. We have gradually gotten better this year. We had to replace so many guys. But each of these guys has stepped up so much.”
J.Z. George finishes 5-12 and 4-5 in 3-3A. The Jaguars had four seniors in the starting lineup.
Looking to next year, Rhodes said the key will be pitching. “We had three guys who contributed overwhelmingly for our pitching and two of them are seniors.”
Seniors Wiggins and Fisher Ratliff and Bankston, a freshman, did most of the pitching.
“I think offensively, we will be as strong as we have ever been,” Rhodes said of the 2019 Jaguars.
