The Georgia Military College Prep (GMCP) Bulldogs continued their successful start in region play by beating Glascock County in both meetings last week. The baseball Bulldogs defeated the Panthers 12-2 in Milledgeville last Tuesday and 19-12 in Gibson on Friday.
Between those wins, however, the Bulldogs lost 17-2 at home to the Dublin Fightin’ Irish.
Despite the loss, Bulldogs head coach Kyle Redmond said he likes the fight he’s seen from his team when faced with adversity.
“Resiliency. We’ve overcome some injuries and sicknesses, but keep grinding away,” Redmond said. “The guys just believe they are going to win when they step on the field, and that’s half the battle. In past years, they would just ‘hope’ to win. They are more confident this year, and it shows.”
The Bulldogs’ starting rotation showed up at home against Glascock when senior Chase McCrary pitched a complete five-inning game that ended in a mercy rule win for GMCP after leading by 10 runs after five innings. McCrary struck out nine batters over five innings and allowed just one hit and two runs in what was his finest start on the mound this season.
The Bulldogs struggled, however, against the more talented Dublin Fightin’ Irish, who are 14-3 so far this season and already 10-0 in region play. The Irish defeated the Bulldogs in a five-inning mercy rule game. Still, Redmond said he believes some losses can contribute to better play in the future.
“When you play really, really good teams, that becomes your norm. It makes your other games seem easier,” Redmond said. “It also challenges you to show up every game or you’ll get your butt kicked, like what happened against Dublin. Our goal was to win our two region games against Glascock, which we did.
“We put most of our eggs in that basket, but on senior night against Dublin, we let the distractions get to us and didn’t come ready to play,” the coach added. “You can’t have games like that against good teams like those we’ll see in the playoffs. We have to come ready to play every game.”
The Bulldogs continued their season Tuesday at Twiggs County, where they laid a 21-0 beatdown on the home team, resulting in another mercy rule decision. The game lasted only three innings after a 12-run first inning for GMCP, followed by five and four runs, respectively, in the following two innings before the game was called.
Next up for the Bulldogs is a visit by Twiggs County to Milledgeville this Thursday (past press time), followed by a road game at region rival Johnson County on March 31. On Friday, at 6 p.m., the Bulldogs will be back at home to host the Academy for Classical Education.