Tigers beat Red Devils twice, smash Athens Academy

PITCHER CLETE WILSON IS NOW 2-0 ON THE MOUND The senior is also an offensive threat with good hitting at the plate.

The Washington-Wilkes Tiger baseball team is off to a good start with some impressive wins to begin their 2007 season. Most recently, the Tigers hammered perennial powerhouse Athens Academy, but earlier, and probably more satisfyingly, beat rival Lincoln County twice in as many games.

On Saturday, March 3, the Tigers travelled to Aquinas for a doubleheader with Social Circle and Athens Academy. The first game, due to time restrictions, ended in a 5-5 tie with the Indians. Sophomore pitcher Drew Wilson got his first varsity start on the mound and went four good innings before turning it over to Demont Gresham for the final three.

W-W took 5-4 lead into the bottom of the seventh inning but couldn't hold on after a couple of defensive errors allowed Social Circle to score a run. Because of the schedule, extra innings were not allowed and the game ended in a nodecision tie.

Gresham led the offensive attack for the Tigers with a home run and two RBI. Wilson went 1-for-2 at the plate and Ty McGill also connected for a hit.

CALEB SAGGUS WENT 3-for-4 AGAINST LINCOLN CO. He also got credit for the win in the jamboree game.

In the second game of the day, Tiger bats exploded against Athens Academy driving in 17 runs on 13 hits. Again it was Gresham's bat leading the way when, in the bottom of the third, he smacked a tworun homer to end the game on the mercy rule, 17-2. He was 2-for-2 for the game.

Other hitters for the Tigers included Caleb Saggus, 2-for-4; Jonathon Nicholson, 2-for-4; Clete Wilson, 2-for-4; Drew Wilson, 2- for-3; Jerrick Derricott, 1-for-3; and Kelley Roberts, 1-for-3.

Clete Wilson pitched the complete game and improved his record to 2- 0. He logged six strikeouts in his three innings of work and allowed two earned runs.

In the regular season opener on Tuesday, February 27, the Tigers blew the Red Devils away at Tiger Field 9-2. It was senior Clete Wilson's first win and he had a shutout going into the final inning but another one of those nasty defensive errors let a run score.

Brother Drew Wilson came on in relief to record the final two outs of the game.

Clete's work on the mound was impressive as he allowed only two hits while striking out 10 and walking only one batter.

Offensively, the Tigers started off with two runs in the first inning on a Derricott double to left center. In the third inning, Nicholson walked and Gresham followed with a single. Both then scored on a single from Drew Wilson.

The Tigers punched three more runs across the plate in the fourth inning as Gresham, Wilson, Derricott, and Wilson stroked four consecutive hits. The final run of the game came in the sixth when Nicholson reached on a single and was batted in by Clete Wilson's single up the middle.

Leading hitters for the Tigers were Nicholson, 1-for-2; Gresham, 2-for- 3; Clete Wilson, 3-for-4; Derricott, 2-for-3 and 3 RBI; Drew Wilson, 2- for-4 and 4 RBI; and McGill, 1-for- 2.

The previous Saturday, February 24, the Tigers beat the Red Devils in a jamboree game at Lincoln County, 12-8. Gresham, both Wilsons, Kelley Roberts, and Caleb Saggus all got time on the mound during the 7-inning game and Saggus got credit for the win, pitching 1.2 innings. Gresham closed the game and recorded three strikeouts in the last four outs.

Saggus was the only W-W player with multiple hits. He was 3-for-4 at the plate.

Next, the Tigers will host Jefferson County on Monday, March 12, at 5 p.m. Then, they will travel to Thomson on Saturday, March 17, for a 2:30 p.m. start.

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