John Milledge Academy (JMA) advanced to the final four for the fourth consecutive season after beating Dominion Christian (DC) two games to none last Friday in Milledgeville.
The Trojans won game one 6-1, then prevailed 8-3 in the second game to reach the GIAA AAA final four for the second straight year against Valwood.
JMA got off to a great start against DC, going up 3-0 in the first inning of the first game, then scoring again in the fourth inning and adding two more runs in the fifth. The Knights’ lone score came in the top of the third inning.
Cooper Wilburn pitched all seven innings of game one for JMA, allowing just three hits and one run while striking out six batters and walking only two. David Todd led the Trojans at the plate with two hits and two RBIs.
Grayson Paradise started on the mound for John Milledge in game two, forcing a pair of ground outs to start the game before striking out a Knights batter to end the first.
Bud Veal led off for the Trojans in the second inning and reached base on a single to right field. Wilburn then reached base on a walk and scored with Veal after Will Adams hit a double to center field to give the Trojans an early 2-0 lead.
Following another scoreless at-bat for the Knights, Cooper Young led off the second inning with a base hit and Veal reached for the second time on an RBI double that extended the Trojans lead to 3-0.
DC cut into the JMA lead with an RBI double in the top of the third inning, then tied the game at three with a single before Paradise struck out a batter to end the inning.
In the fourth inning, the Trojans reclaimed the lead with a two-out, bases-loaded walk to bring in the tie-breaking run. Blake Bellflower took control of the game by hitting his third home run of the season, this one a grand slam to center field to give the Trojans a commanding 8-3 lead at the end of four innings.
Paradise remained to pitch three more shutout innings to secure the Trojans’ win and send them to the GIAA AAA baseball semifinals. Paradise allowed seven hits and three runs while striking out five and walking zero batters.
Wilburn had only one hit in game two but reached base four times with a double and three walks. Veal had two hits and one RBI, while Young contributed two base hits and scored two runs.
In a rematch of last year’s GIAA AAA baseball final-four series, won by the Trojans, who also secured last year’s championship, John Milledge will host Valwood on Friday with game one starting at 1:30 p.m. and game two scheduled to follow 30 minutes after the series opener ends. If necessary, game three will be played Saturday at a time not yet announced.
JMA (12-11) and Valwood (16-11) previously played once this season, in early April at Valdosta, where the Trojans scored a 17-4 win.