Appeal Brings Sigh Of Relief To Johns Creek Gladiators

Editor's note: the following was submitted by local resident Mike Blum.

The Johns Creek Gladiators baseball team is still alive in the state AAAAAA playoffs after receiving a favorable ruling Monday in its appeal of last week’s disputed loss to Lee County in the second game of their semifinal series.

The Georgia High School Association board of trustees voted 5-2 in favor of Johns Creek’s appeal of a call by the umpiring crew that negated what would have been the winning run in the bottom of the seventh inning of the second game of the best-of-three series.

A bases loaded walk by a Lee County pitcher with two outs and the game tied 3-3 apparently forced in the winning run for the Gladiators, but the Lee County coach contended the Johns Creek runner on second base never touched third base after the walk.

The umpiring crew gave in to the argument of the Lee County coach and called the runner on second base out, wiping out the apparent game-winning run. Lee County scored two runs in the eighth inning to win the game 5-3, and two initial appeals by Johns Creek were both rejected before the final decision in the case went the Gladiators way.

The two teams will meet in a decisive game three at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday at Lee County, with the winner advancing to the state championship series, which begins Friday at the Atlanta Braves’ minor league team base in Rome.

Monday's decision extends a season for Johns Creek that was in jeopardy of ending well before the conclusion of the regular season.With four games left in their 7-AAAAAA schedule, the Gladiators were 5-7 in region play and seemingly out of contention for one of four spots in the state playoffs. Johns Creek won its last four region games, including wins over Dunwoody and Alpharetta, both of whom finished in a 5-way tie for second with Johns Creek and two other teams.

A tiebreaker placed Johns Creek second among the five teams, and the Gladiators began the state playoffs as the third seed from the region. The Gladiators won three straight playoff series on the road against higher-seeded teams, beginning with a come-from-behind victory in the first round over South Paulding.

Hayden McIlwaine pitched seven scoreless innings in the opener, with the Gladiators losing 1-0 in the eighth inning on two walks and an error. Johns Creek won the next two games 4-0 and 13-0 with Jared Mihalik and Shugo Tanaka tossing shutouts. Will Mangurian belted a grand slam in the second game.

In the second round, the Gladiators won 3-2 and 13-3 against Greenbrier. The first game again went eight innings, with McIlwaine allowing just one run through seven. Cole Neuber homered for Johns Creek to tie the game in the sixth, and got the last out in relief of McIlwaine for the save after the Gladiators scored twice in the top of the eighth.

The Gladiators ended the second game after five innings, with Mihalik getting the win and contributing two hits for Johns Creek, which broke the game open with seven runs in the second inning. Matt Gravely had two hits and drove in three runs, and Mihalik also had a pair of RBIs.

Johns Creek swept Allatoona 1-0 and 6-5 in the quarterfinals, with McIlwaine throwing a complete game shutout in the opener. Travis Sands drove in the game’s only run in the fourth inning, Mihalik went six innings and Neuber recorded a save in the second game, with Brandon Crews leading the way offensively with two hits and two RBIs.

Lee County (28-12) won the opener of the semifinals 7-4, with the Gladiators losing despite collecting 13 hits, three by Gravely. Chaz Bertolani drove in two runs for Johns Creek, with McIlwaine taking the loss.

Neuber and Gravely had three hits each in the second game, with the Gladiators (23-14) rallying after trailing 3-0 after four innings. Mihalik went the first six innings, with Neuber getting the win with a scoreless seventh.

The winner of Wednesday’s game will be at a disadvantage in the championship series against Pope (32-6), which finished first in Region 7-AAAAAA at 13-3. The starting pitchers Wednesday will likely be unavailable for the first two games of the championship series, and possibly for a third game on Saturday if necessary.

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