Pinewood Baseball looking to repeat as State Champions
The Pinewood Christian Baseball team is headed back to the State Championship this Friday at Grayson Stadium in Savannah.
The baseball team finished the regular season with a record of 19-2. They went a perfect 12-0 during region play for the first time in school history. The Patriots have achieved that record with outstanding pitching and the help of some big bats. Pinewood’s pitching staff finished the regular season with an ERA of 1.01 and their opponents hitting a mere .160. They finished the regular season with 145 strikeouts and gave up only 38 walks. Their ERA including the playoffs stands at 1.40 with an opponent batting average of .188.
On the offensive side of the ball, the Patriots finished the regular season with a team batting average of .334, an OBP of .470, and have averaged 8.5 runs per game. They have also set a school record for the most homeruns in a season. The boys in green have blasted 23 homeruns this year. The most impressive part of this is that the homeruns have come from 8 different players.
The format for the playoffs is the best 2 out of 3. Pinewood swept the first round from St. Andrews in easy fashion with scores of 17-1 and 17-0. The second round was much more difficult against Bethlehem Christian who was probably the best hitting team they faced all year. Pinewood swept the second round in dramatic fashion winning game one 4-3 with a walk-off hit in the bottom of the 7th. They won the second game 3-2 with a 2 run homerun in the top of the 7th and then striking out the side in the bottom of the 7th. The third round saw Pinewood face off against the Westfield Hornets. Pinewood split the first two games on Saturday with a 4-3 win in game one. Westfield won game two 4-2 forcing the third and deciding game Monday. Pinewood came ready to play and racked up 13 hits, winning game three 13-9 and securing a spot in the 3A Championship game.
Pinewood will face off against John Milledge Academy this Friday. Pinewood comes into the series with an overall record of 23-3 while JMA is sporting a 22-4 record. Pinewood beat Tift Area in last year’s finals to give the school its first ever baseball state championship. “We are looking forward to the challenge of repeating as State Champions and know we will have our hands full against a very good opponent in John Milledge. On paper, this series should be great to watch and be a part of,” stated Head Coach Brett Lewis. The team is hoping everyone will show up Friday at Grayson Stadium and cheer the Patriots on as they try to go back to back as state champions.
