The Bryan County Redskins Baseball team is a team on fire right now and whispers of a team that might take us farther than Redskin baseball has gone in a long while can be heard among loyal fans and the Redskins themselves. No one is shouting their acclaim from the rooftops; it is a quiet expectation as one hit after another leads them ever closer to an opportunity to advance into post season play.
After a disheartening 17-2 loss to the Portal Panthers in their first meeting in March, the Redskins welcomed the Panthers to Redskin Field Friday night.
Wesley Wilkes took the mound for the Skins and sent the Panthers home with 13 strikeouts and a single hit as he led his team to a 2-0 victory. Aaron Dudley led the Redskins in hitting going 3 for 3, Wesley Wilkes and Trey Boatright followed close behind going 1 for 3, Kurt Shuman and Andrew Cook went 1 for 2 and each had an RBI. The win gives the Redskins an 8-11 overall record and a 4-6 Region 3A record.
"Great game!" said head coach Al Butler, with much enthusiasm. "Wesley worked hard from the mound and Portal had nothing for him. He only gave up a double to one of the better batters in the region. We were able to score a few runs early and it was enough to win. We made a few base running blunders and we were lucky enough for them not to hurt us. We hit the ball well all day but just couldn’t put runs on the board. Not to sound overconfident, but Wesley was in such a zone out there, I was really confident with only 2 runs. The team is looking really good on the field right now, one or two more wins and these boys will accomplish something that has eluded us great Redskin fans for quite some time."
With that win in the record books, the Skins then faced Windsor Forest on Monday at Redskin Field.
The non-region match up was the first meeting between the two teams this season and, once again, that fire fueling the Skins was burning brightly.
Ricky Myrick took the mound for the Redskins and pitched four innings before being replaced by Trey Boatright who took his team on to a 12-2 win in five innings.
Myrick struck out six Windsor Forest batters and gave up only two runs before he was replaced in a four inning no hitter. Boatright finished the game, having to pitch only one inning, striking out two Windsor Forest batters for the win.
The Redskin batters were more than the Windsor Forest defense could handle, driving the ball for nine hits and 12 runs. Andrew Cook led the Redskins in batting going 3 for 3 with 3 RBIs, Kurt Shuman went 1 for 1 with 2 RBIs and a sac fly, Ricky Myrick went 1 for 2 with 2 walks and scored 3 of the Redskin runs himself, Trey Boatright went 1 for 2 with a RBI and three walks. Cameron Lee went 2 for 3 scoring both hits in the fourth inning.
Lee started the Redskin rally in the fourth with his first hit and came one bounce shy of a grand slam homerun later in that inning.
The Windsor Forest win puts the Redskin record at 9-11 overall. Two regular season games are left on the Redskins’ schedule. The Redskins travel to Millen on Friday to face Jenkins County.
Their first meeting ended with the Redskins winning 2-0. Tuesday will be Senior Day at Redskin Field as the Skins face off against Claxton who came away the victor in their first meeting, winning 11-10.