Clint Thompson
THOMASVILLE — The long ball was kind to Lowndes Tuesday night.
Stranding runners on base was Thomas County Central’s downfall.
The Vikings belted two home runs, including a three-run dinger by Seth Evans in a four-run fifth inning Tuesday night, to propel past the Yellow Jackets 7-4.
Central (2-4) had opportunities to keep pace but stranded 13 runners and 10 in scoring position.
“You can’t beat good teams like Lowndes leaving opportunities out there,” Central coach Chad Parkerson said. “You’ve got to take advantage of what they give you. We didn’t do it tonight.”
Central had runners on second and third with no outs in the bottom of the seventh. But Lowndes pitcher Ryan Farrill fanned three straight Central batters looking to end the game.
“We’ve got to swing the bats. Our whole hitting philosophy is good swings at good pitches. With two strikes we try to expand the zone a little bit. Anything close, we’re going to try to put the bat on it,” Parkerson added. “If it’s borderline, foul it off, and make that guy throw another perfect pitch.
“There’s not any excuses in that.”
Central tallied nine hits, including two each by Josh Gobble and Will Taylor. The Yellow Jackets did strike out seven times, however.
Taylor had three of Central’s four RBIs, including a pair of RBI doubles. He helped the Yellow Jackets sprint out to a 3-1 lead heading into the top of the fifth inning.
Central pulled Taylor, who had given up one run in four innings of work on the mound. Seth Corbitt came on in relief and surrendered three straight baserunners via a hit batsman, an intentional walk and a bunt single. Cory Elder, who led off the inning, scored on a wild pitch. Evans capped the comeback with a laser over the right-center field fence.
“Seth is a high-motor guy. I think sometimes he lets that adrenaline get pumping a little bit too much,” Parkerson said. “It’s a lot easier to pull the reigns back than to make him giddy up. He’ll be back. He’s one of the best competitors we’ve got. We ain’t going to forget about him.”
Between Taylor, Corbitt, Matt Blackburn and Josh Gobble, Central struggled with its control on the mound. It hit two batters and issued five walks.
“We’ve got to just throw strikes and let our defense play. I’m not too down on our defense,” Parkerson said. “There’s certain aspects we’ve got to get better at. But you can’t defend a walk.
“We’ve got to keep getting better.”
Zac Freeman led off the game for Lowndes with a solo homer over the center field wall.
Central will play again on Friday at Region 1-AAAA foe Upson-Lee.
