GMC baseball blows out Marion

Gil Pound, The Union-Recorder, Milledgeville, Ga.
·2 min read

May 1—Make it two years in a row now that the GMC Prep baseball team has advanced to the second round of the state playoffs.

The Bulldogs (17-10) enjoyed a two-game sweep at Marion County, winning 14-5 and 17-1 in Buena Vista Friday. Their next opponent will be the 20-10 Bowdon Red Devils, who went to three games in their first round matchup against Lincoln County. Bowdon took Game 1 6-1 before losing the second 5-3. The Red Devils bounced back to win the deciding Game 3, 5-1.

GMC Prep had a much easier time with its series at Marion.

"We had a great matchup in the first round, for us," Bulldogs head coach Rusty Courson said. "Their first pitcher was throwing mid- to upper-70s and we hit him well. After that first guy, they struggled with pitching."

After a scoreless first two innings of Game 1, the 'Dogs got on the board in the third and gave senior starting pitcher Tyler Saunders a six-run cushion with which to work. Marion battled halfway back in its turn in the third, but GMC was the more high-powered team of the two playoff contenders. Three Bulldogs — Tyler Loerzel, Saunders, and Christian Black — all knocked in three runs apiece in the Game 1 victory. Meanwhile, junior leadoff man Bryce Smith did a good job of getting on base for his teammates, in both games. He led GMC with four RBIs in the Game 2 blowout while Eli Letson and Jessie Washington brought in three and two runs, respectively. On the mound, the senior ace Black needed only 44 pitches in the mercy-rule-shortened win. Five of the nine outs recorded under his watch came via strikeout.

The two-game sweep has Courson believing that the GMC Prep baseball program may be turning a corner, but he wants to see more.

"If we can beat Bowdon, I'll really feel like we're heading in the right direction," he said. "We're on the right path of changing the GMC mentality."

The Bulldogs and Red Devils did not see one another in the 2023 regular season, nor do they share any common opponents. Their closest link comes via Glascock and Lincoln County. GMC played Glascock who played Lincoln, which is who Bowdon defeated in the first round. GMC split with the Glascock team that defeated Lincoln twice early in the regular season, and it took Bowdon three games to knock Lincoln out this past weekend. The matchup seems to be pretty favorable for the GMC Bulldogs.

Everyone will see just how favorable when the 'Dogs travel to Bowdon later this week. The teams will play two games Thursday with the first set for 4 p.m. and Game 2 to follow. In case of a split, Game 3 will be played 4 p.m. Friday, also at Bowdon.