Baseball: Redan Advances to State Semifinals

Junior Miles Fore led the hit parade for the Redan Raiders as they scored 24 runs on 24 hits in a Class AAAA quarterfinal sweep of the Locust Grove Wildcats at Locust Grove on Tuesday.

Fore went 4-6 at the plate with six RBIS and a triple in the two games to lead six different players who drove in two or more runs on the day as Redan won 11-1 and 13-3 to advance to the semifinals.

A two-out rally in the top of the first inning in game one was a sign of things to come for the Raiders against the Wildcat pitching staff. Wesley Jones doubled with two out and Brandon Baker followed with a single to plate Jones for the early 1-0 lead.

The Raiders would finish the inning with a 3-0 advantage as Fore hit a two-run single with the bases loaded to start his day.

Centerfielder Joseph Graves came running in on a blooper just over the infield in the bottom of the first and made a diving catch for the third out and save a run to preserve the 3-0 lead.

The lead was still 3-0 in the third inning when Fore made two Wildcat errors prove costly with a triple over the right fielder’s head into the corner to push the lead to 5-0.

Redan got a three more runs in the fourth as Baker drilled a two-run double in the gap to give the Raiders a comfortable 8-0 lead.

Raider pitcher Corderius Dorsey allowed just one run and three hits in the game, two of the infield variety in the fifth inning that led to a bases-loaded walk to Johnny Shoemaker to plate Locust Grove’s only run of the game.

While reliever Darian Osby came in to pitch the final two innings for Redan, the Raiders added a run in the sixth on a RBI single by Jones and a sacrifice fly Graves to make the final of 11-1. Osby struck out four of the seven batters he faced to close out the first game win.

Locust Grove got out to the quick start in the second game jumping to a 2-0 lead in the top of the first inning on a passed ball and a RBI single by Johnny Shoemaker. Redan answered as Trega Williams singled to left to plate Graves and trim the lead to 2-1.

Locust Grove took the 2-1 lead into the bottom of the third. Williams got an infield single off the end of his bat to score James Nelson to knot the game at 2-2. Following a walk to Bacari Gayle to load the bases, Fore stepped to the plate with another big opportunity. He promptly hit a liner into left-center field driving in his fifth and sixth runs of the day. The hit gave Redan the lead for good at 4-2.

Redan struck for six runs in the fourth as Jones delivered a two-run triple and Dorsey lined a shot down the leftfield line for a two-run double to give the Raiders a commanding 10-2 lead. Jones added another RBI in the fifth as his single scored Graves to make it 11-2.

Locust Grove pushed a run across the plate in the top of the sixth before Osby closed the door with a strikeout and a fly out to leave the bases loaded with Wildcats.

Redan closed out the game in six innings as James Nelson slapped a two-out, bases loaded single to score two runs to end the game by the 10-run rule.

The wins moved the Raiders (26-6) into the host role for the Class AAAA semifinals on Monday (May 20) against Troup County (21-11) which swept Veterans by identical scores of 4-1 in action on Tuesday at Veterans.

Troup, the No. 4 seed from 5-AAAA, also swept Eastside (11-7, 12-2) and Cass (6-0, 5-4) in the first two rounds of the state playoffs.

Redan holds sweeps over Heritage-Catoosa (8-4, 12-2) and Columbus (5-4, 9-4) as the Raiders move into their third state semifinal appearance.

Baseball State Playoffs Schedule
Class AAAA Semifinals
Monday, May 20 (tentative)
Troup Co. (21-11) at Redan (26-6), doubleheader starting at 2 p.m.

Tuesday, May 21, if necessary
Troup Co. (21-11) at Redan (26-6), 5 pm.

Class AAAA Quarterfinals Results
Tuesday, May 14
Game 1: Redan (25-6) 11, Locust Grove (19-11) 1
Game 2: Redan (26-6) 13, Locust Grove (19-12) 3
Redan wins best-of-three series 2-0

Mark Brock is the Information Officer/Statistician/Web Manager for DeKalb County Schools Athletics