Bradwell Institute’s baseball team had a difficult time at the plate Saturday and dropped a double-header at Appling County.
The Pirates took the opening game 12-1 and the final game 2-0.
The Tigers, who won by using the bunt against Richmond Hill last week, had a difficult time dropping the bunt in Baxley. Of 30 attempts, only one was fair.
“It’s frustrating,” BI coach Rhett Hellgren said. “We’re a little behind in our hitting. I’m hoping by now we should start hitting. I expected us to be behind in the beginning of the year, but I didn’t expect it to go this far.”
Despite the losses, Hellgren was impressed with freshman pitcher Dylan Brown.
In the second game, Brown pitched six innings and allowed only one earned run.
“Dylan pitched a really good game. I am real happy with his effort,” Hellgren said. “He pitched a heck of a game, but we just couldn’t get the bats going.”
Hellgren said Brown would have a chance to be a starting pitcher for region games. Currently, Nick Franks and Steven Dill are the Tigers’ No. 1 and No. 2 pitchers respectively. Josh Magaw and Dustin Belletty also split time taking the mound
The Tigers resumed Region 3-AAAAA play on Tuesday at Beach, but the game was not complete in time for press.
Hellgren said the team’s focus is now on region play. The Tigers start an important three game home stand on Friday against three of the region’s top teams. First, Johnson comes to town, then on Tuesday Jenkins comes to Hinesville and the home stand concludes Thursday against Groves. All games start at 5 p.m.
“Those three games will really show how our season unfolds,” Hellgren said.
Johnson, Jenkins, Groves, Bradwell and Camden County are expected to contend for the region’s four playoff spots.