THOMASVILLE — The emotion was both readily evident and tangible after the Thomasville High School Bulldogs recorded the final out Wednesday afternoon.

A year after a rules infraction denied them a spot in the state Class AA baseball semifinals, the Bulldogs rode Anderson Everett’s pitching gem to a 3-0 Game 3 win over Jeff Davis. 

“(I’m) a little emotional for these kids,” said Bulldogs head coach Erik McDougald, “this community, the administration, the parents, everyone that fought through the adversity with us. To be able to rebound and come back from what we went through a year ago, to have the strength to be able to get through that is a testament to these kids and their parents and this community. A lot of people get run out. These kids came back to work and find themselves right where they left off. I don’t have words for that.”

Everett struck out 10 in the decisive Game 3, including the final out of the game. 

With the win, the Bulldogs will travel to Atlanta on Monday to face Pace Academy.

But Wednesday, the elation from beating the defending state champs was all that mattered.

“It means a lot,” Everett said of the win to put the team in the Final Four. “It feels great. I love it.”

“It’s a moment like no other,” said senior catcher Witt Wetherington, who went 1-for-3. 

The Bulldogs broke through for two runs in the bottom of the second. Beck Nicholson bounced a single into left field with two out, chasing home Gabe Duncan, and Carson Fryman scored on the back end of a double steal. 

Jace Lowe made it 3-0 with a line drive single to center field, bringing in courtesy runner Parker Beckham.

All three Bulldogs runs came with two outs, and on a day when a strong breeze blew in throughout the game, small ball was going to have carry the offense.

“That’s postseason,” McDougald said. ”It’s going to boil down to two-out hits, who gets them and who doesn’t get them, who executes in a pressure situation. We had just enough of those today. Anderson held them at bay and the defense did their job.”

Everett got out of a first and third jam in the second and throttled the Yellow Jackets after that. He retired 10 straight batters until Cade Harpe bounced a single down the first-base line with two out in the fifth. 

Wetherington, Everett’s battery mate, praised his starting pitcher.

“It was very easy,” he said of catching Everett in Game 3. “All of his pitches were working perfectly.”

The Bulldogs turned an inning-ending double play in the sixth before Everett ran into trouble in the seventh. With one out, he hit back-to-back batters.

Everett, though, got a force out for the second out and struck out Harpe for the final out, sending the Bulldogs players and coaches into a euphoric celebration.

“It’s almost like a dream come true,” Wetherington said. “All this hard work paid off. You can’t ask for anything outside these guys. It’s one of the greatest feelings ever.”

Hitting two batters prompted a mound visit. But Everett dug in his heels.

“Anderson is that guy,” McDougald said. “To be able to perform in a situation like that, with a lot of pressure, he is the absolute perfect guy. Anderson is very good at this moment, this here, this now. He did not want to get pulled. He wanted to finish that game. He’s competitor.” 

Everett relied on his off-speed arsenal to record eight swinging strikeouts against the Yellow Jackets, including the final out.

“He kept them off-balance all day,” McDougald said, “and he did a good job of throwing pitches when he need pitches and not getting frustrated when he hit a couple of guys. He kept it dialed in. His focus was amazing.” 

The Yellow Jackets held on for a 3-2 win in Game 2 Tuesday night, forcing a third game.

Harpe drove in two runs for the Yellow Jackets with a second-inning sacrifice fly and a single in the fourth.

The Bulldogs scratched out two runs against Alex Mason in the fifth inning. Mason struck out 12 and allowed just four hits.

Wetherington was 2-for-3 with two doubles and doubled with one out in the seventh inning. 

Jeff Davis’ Game 2 win snapped a 19-game winning streak for the Bulldogs. But McDougald said his team shook off that loss quickly.

“They have responded so well,” he said. “We had won a lot of games in a row. They lose a game (Tuesday) night and they’re the same laughing guys. They loosened me up.”

The Bulldogs took Game 1 7-2. Wetherington’s bases-clearing double in the sixth inning capped a four-run rally.

The Bulldogs took a 3-0 lead in the first on Lowe’s RBI single and Fryman’s two-run double.

The Yellow Jackets answered with Mason’s two-run homer in the second.

Jacob Jordan struck out 10 over five innings, allowing four hits and three walks. Ben Rawlings pitched two scoreless innings in relief.

Pace has swept each of its first three series, outscoring its opponents 54-11 in six games.

Senior R.J. Austin has been named the Region 6-AA player of the year, and three other Knights were named to the all-region first team.

Nevertheless, McDougald wants his Bulldogs to maintain the determination that has gotten them to 27-5 and the semifinals — especially a year after they were denied such a spot.

“I can’t express enough what it means to me to see them get to this point,” he said. “We do want to guard our focus. It’s really easy to say ‘we did that and check out.’ Let’s continue to grind and get after it.”