The Georgia Highlands Chargers rode into the weekend looking for their bats to heat up against a quality Lincoln Trail College baseball team.  In the first game of the three game series, the Chargers failed to capitalize on a first inning scoring opportunity, and it proved very costly.  Colby Taylor made his third start of the season and threw well, allowing just 4 hard hit balls all night.  Unfortunately, two of those balls were hit by Lincoln Trail third baseman Cobie Taylor over the right field wall, scoring 5 of the LTC’s 6 runs in the ballgame.  Highlands scattered 6 hits in the ballgame and got a spark in the 5th inning when Nick Fink singled to start the frame, then stole second and third, and scored on an RBI double from Bronco O’Brien.  Taylor took his second loss of the season as the Chargers fell 6-1.

On Saturday, the Chargers got started early, scoring a run in the first and adding 3 more in the second to jump out to a 4-0 lead.  Devin Bilardello got the Chargers started in the second, leading off with a single and stealing second base.  Caleb McElwaney delivered a single to score Bilardello, then advanced ona  hit by pitch to Bronco O’Brien and a wild pitch.  McElwaney scored on a sacrifice fly off the batt of Grant Bodison, and Jonathan White plated O’Brien with a rocket up the middle.  After Lincoln Trail scored 3 runs to make it a 4-3 game, the Chargers rallied again in the fifth inning with one out when Nick Fink reached first on a dropped third strike and promptly stole his 4th base of the series.  A basehit by Bilardello put runners at the corners for Isreal Zackery, who drove in Fink and moved Bilardello to third with a single into left field.  An RBI ground ball from McElwaney scored Bilardello, and the Chargers extended their lead to 8-3.

Highlands starter Drew Wilson was excellent, allowing 3 runs on 8 hits in the complete game performance.  The freshman right-hander struck out 9 and walked none to improve his record to 2-1 on the season.  Bronco O’Brien and Devin Bilardello each had two hits in the contest, and Jonathan White and Caleb McElwaney each had a pair of RBI’s.

In the rubber match, the Chargers carried a 3 run lead into the fifth inning, when they were undone by a Lincoln Trail rally that included 5 hits, a pair of walks, and a misplayed pop-up in foul territory.

GHC got the scoring started in the first inning when a Jonathan White double was followed by a Brandon Bell triple to give the Chargers a 1-0 lead.  The lead would disappear quickly, as Lincoln Trail answered in the top of the second with a run of their own.  Nick Fink was once again a catalyst, reaching base in the fourth inning on a hit by pitch, stealing second, and scoring on an RBI single by Devin Bilardello.  Nick Piccapietra would later score Bilardello with a sacrifice fly, and the Chargers would retake the lead 3-1.

Sam Sowerbrower was the starter for GHC, and he cruised through 4 innings until Lincoln Trail got to him in the fifth.  After allowing 4 runs, 3 in the fifth, on 6 hits, Sowerbrower was relieved by Matthew Norton who struggled to find the strikezone and allowed 2 more runs on a pair of walks and a hit.

Now trailing 6-3, the Chargers got a run back in their half of the fifth, scoring Grant Bodison on an RBI single from Jonathan White.  Ryan Bramlett came on in relief of Norton and held Lincoln Trail scoreless over the final two frames.  In the bottom of the seventh, pinch hitters Nick Piccapietra and Matthew Vaccaro both lined out hard to center field to start the inning before Bronco O’Brien took a hit by pitch to keep the Chargers alive.  Grant Bodison then smashed a line drive deep to left field that hit the yellow piping on top of the fence and somehow stayed in the park for an RBI double.  It looked for a moment as if the Chargers had pulled out a dramatic come from behind victory when Jonathan White hammered a 1-1 curveball deep to left field to almost the exact same spot Bodison’s had been hit.  Unfortunately, this time Lincoln Trail’s left fielder was able to make the catch, robbing White of a hit and sealing the win for his team.

The Chargers fall to 5-6 on the season and will be back in action against 2016 NJCAA DII National Runner Up Sinclair Community College for a 3 game series this weekend.  First pitch on Friday is at 3PM with a 1PM double header to follow on Saturday.