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Wildcats fall in Final Four after
winning a school record 29 games
winning a school record 29 games
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On an extremely hot and humid day, Coach Chuck Cheek sent junior Lefty Jeremy Royal to the mound in game 1. The opposing pitcher
Taylor Hammons led off game 1 with a hit and was followed by a line drive out to centerfield off the bat off Royal. Colby Britt then laced a fastball to the left side that the shortstop snagged and threw to first to double off Hammons at first for the double play.
The Cats caught a break in the top of the 2nd inning. Rick Shremshock reached on an error by the 3rd baseman. Will Brown then hit a rocket to left field that got under the glove of the defender, allowing Shremshock to score from first and Brown to advance to 3rd. Calvary’s third baseman then redeemed himself with a highlight diving play on a liner off the bat of Bud Fuller to save a run. Brown would be left at 3rd base.
Royal did not allow a baserunner in the first two innings, but led off the third with a walk. That would be an unwelcome theme for the visiting team throughout the day. With two outs left fielder Justin Fields singled to right to drive in pitcher Justin Edwards to tie the game. The Cavaliers took the lead for good in the 4th inning. Two one-out walks came home to roost on a two-out hit by Calvary’s No. 9 hitter.
With a 3-1 lead going into the bottom of the 6th inning, the home team put the game away. With two outs and a runner on due to an infield single, the wheels came off for the Cats. In the inning six runs scored on four hits and four walks. Will Brown and David Byrd each made appearances on the mound in the inning, but were unable to stop the rally.
Schley lost the first game 9-1 in a game that was much closer than the score indicated. Taylor Hammons led the Cats at the plate with two hits in the game. Shremshock and Will Brown added hits as well. The Cats would need to regain their focus if they were going to avoid the sweep.
The Wildcats were the “home team” in game 2. Junior Bud Fuller took the mound hoping to force a third game. After playing in game 1, the heat and the Cavalier bats got to Fuller in the first inning. Fuller, arguably the most dominate pitcher for the Cats all year, allowed five runs on four hits, two walks, and a hit batsman in his inning of work. Fuller attempted to start the 2nd inning but was unable to do so due to the heat and fatigue. Colby Britt, the offensive hero of the playoffs, entered the game to try and keep the Cats close enough to make a comeback. Britt would do his job, as he allowed one run over the next six innings on only three hits.
The Cats started their comeback in the 3rd inning. Ryan Brown singled to lead off the inning. Hammons moved the runner to 2nd with an infield grounder and Jeremy Royal lined a base hit to center field to score Brown. Colby Britt followed with an infield single and with two outs. Will Brown singled to center to drive in two runs and cut the lead to 5-3. The Cats would get runners on in the 4th, 5th, and 6th innings, but would be unable to push a run across.
Down 6-3 in the bottom of the 7th inning, the Cats made their last attempt at a comeback. Hammons reached on an error and Royal singled to start the inning with no outs. Britt then grounded to the shortstop, who tried to start the double-play, but Britt beat the throw to first. After a strikeout to get the 2nd out of the inning, Will Brown nearly tied the game. The junior drove a pitch to the right center field gap that hit high off the fence. Royal and Britt scored on the double, but Brown was left on base as the last Wildcat batter struck out on a hard slider.
Royal led the Cats at the plate with a 4-4 performance and a RBI. Will Brown added three hits, including a double and 4 RBI.
Schley finishes the 2006 season with a 29-5 record. The 29 wins are a school record and the team advanced to the State Semifinals for the first time in school history. The Wildcats will lose four seniors off of this year’s team. Josh Tondee, Josh Jordan, Ryan Brown and Rick Shremshock will be missed. The Cats will return nine players who will be seniors next year. Coach Cheek said that with a lot of hard work in the offseason this team should be able to make another run deep in the playoffs and possibly contend for a state championship.
“We were so close this year,” he said. “We were one more hit in any of the last four innings from forcing a game 3 against the defending state champs. I really feel if we’d have gotten to a game 3 we could have pulled it out, but you never know. We are really going to miss our seniors. They were great leaders for our team. Somebody will have to step up next year to fill their shoes”.
Coach Cheek would also like to thank all of the fans that made the drive over to Savannah.
“These fans have been great,” said Cheek. “We’ve played at two different places in the playoffs and had more fans their than the home team did. The baseball team loves the loud crowd. They give us a big lift at times. We’ve got the best fan support of any high school baseball team I’ve ever seen.”
Congratulations to the Schley County Wildcats on a tremendous season.