It looked as if Ennis was going to be stranded there when junior designated hitter Keller Groover looked at a third strike and senior second baseman Krish Patel popped up on an attempted bunt but Williams came through on a 1-1 pitch. Panthers right fielder Cayden Merrick couldn’t get to the sinking liner and that led to a mob scene between first and second.
“Wins don’t come easy in this region,” Coach Kyle Farmer said. “Yes, it was a huge win. It was a region win and every region win is a big win.
“We’ve just got to stay focused and work on getting better every day.”
With the win, the Redskins (10-7, 7-2) moved into a tie for third-place with Metter (7-8, 7-2) behind Screven County (10-3, 7-0) and ECI (10-4, 6-1).
Bryan County still has Screven, Metter and McIntosh County Academy to play in addition to the game at Portal.
Cooper Ennis has excellent control but it deserted him on the first two hitters he faced as he walked both. They both wound up scoring but Ennis settled down and allowed only three hits while striking out nine.
“My arm was feeling good at the start,” said Ennis whose pitches were high to the first two hitters. “I had a good bullpen session warming up. I think the mound might be different than the one in the bullpen.
“This was a big win for us,” Ennis said. “We’ve been playing well and we’ve got pretty good plate discipline. We’re not swinging at a lot of bad balls.”
Ennis, who drew two of the Redskins’ seven walks, also helped himself defensively when the Panthers looked as if they were mounting a threat.
In the third, Ennis hit a batter with one away and after the next man singled he teamed with Williams, who was playing shortstop, to pick off the runner and second and he then struck out Jackson Taylor to end the threat.
In the sixth, Motes singled leading off but Ennis then started a nifty double play when he took a one-hopper back to the mound and gunned it to Williams who then fired it to first to complete the twin killing.
Koskela, who catches when not pitching, struck out three and walked one in his two innings of work. He was coming off a three-inning no-hitter against Claxton. When Koskela took over Williams went behind the plate and Cooper Ennis went to short.
Bryan County got one run back in the first when senior first baseman AJ Thomas singled to score Koskela who had doubled with two out. The Redskins evened it in the third when Koskela walked, stole second and scored when Motes, who was playing second at the time, couldn’t handle Gunner Ennis’ sharply hit two out grounder.
At that point Cooper Ennis was in complete control as the Panthers had only one hitter reach second and that was LT Jones who Ennis picked off.
PORTAL 200 000 000 – 2 3 1
BRYAN COUNTY 101 000 001 – 3 5 1 WP: Eli Koskela. LP: Brodie Motes. Leading hitters; Ethan Williams 1-4, RBI; Eli Koskela 1-3, 2B, 2 runs; AJ Thomas, 1-3, RBI; Gunner Ennis 1-4, 2B, run; Keller Groover 1-2. Records: Bryan County (10-7, 7-2); Portal (4-7, 1-6).