Knights' rallying success in playoffs gets swept away
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Kyle Wilkerson (1eft) and Brad Freeman celebrate during the Knights' four-run second inning of Game 1 against Lee County.
Photo by Jonathan Heeter
LEESBURG, Ga. - It was a playoff run that will be hard to forget.
Evans (23-11) won three straight playoff series after dropping the first game. There was Game 3 against Hardaway, when the Knights rallied from four runs down in the bottom of the seventh inning to pull out an 11-10 win.
Evans recovered after blowing a six-run lead in Game 3 against Etowah to win in nine innings.
The magic ended Monday.
Exactly one year after Columbus swept Greenbrier in the state semifinals, Lee County swept Evans on Memorial Day to advance to the state championship game. Like Columbus last season, No. 1 Lee County will be the overwhelming favorites to win the state title.
"They are as good of a team that I've seen since about my freshman season," said senior Brad Freeman. "They do everything well. They don't make mistakes. That was clear tonight."
The Trojans (31-3) dominated Evans, 16-6, in Game 1, pounding out 18 hits.
Then they out-pitched the Knights in Game 2, 6-2, to advance to play the winner of Heritage-Henry County.
"I think we are playing pretty good baseball right now," said Lee County coach Rob Williams. "We are pitching well and are hitting extremely well. I never thought we would have that kind of offensive output against Evans."
Florida State signee Buster Posey was as good as advertised, getting the win in Game 1 and hitting a home run in each game to lead the Trojans.
Evans senior Brad Freeman tries to lay down a bunt in the third inning of Monday's game at Lee County.
Photo by Jonathan Heeter
"Yeah, he was really good," said Evans coach Ricky Beale. "We knew going into the series it would be important to stop him. We were careful when he was at bat and he still hurt us. But great players do that sometimes."
The end of the season also was the end of a high school career for a number of players.
Third baseman Ken Raborn, outfielder Kyle Wilkerson and first baseman Ryan Pressley are starters who graduate. The four top pitchers - Zack Baker, Hank McCladdie, Brad Freeman and Tim Steflik - also graduate. Other seniors on the team are Stephen Keeler and Jacob Magnuson.
"I came here four years ago with these seniors," Beale said. "It is going to be unbelievably tough when I don't have these guys next year. I have grown close to these guys and I will really miss them."
Most of the seniors were visibly distraught after the loss.
"The toughest thing isn't losing this game," Raborn said. "The toughest thing is knowing I won't get to play another baseball game with these guys. I can't even talk about it without getting upset."
The Knights will return Shawn Ward, Wes Baxter, Pat Foster and Alex Sickman as key position players next season. Josh Brodhecker, Kevin Millward and Matt Stark will be counted on to shoulder the pitching load.
"Hopefully, the great legacy that Evans had under Terry Holder has been restored," Beale said. "But I guess we will have to wait until next year to find it out."