Sports

Trojans ousted

• Lee County’s season ends Wednesday with a 4-1 loss to Salem as the Trojans fall one game short of reaching their second consecutive GHSA Class AAAA Final Four.

Derek Barichello

LEESBURG — It took only one Lee County pitch for groans to spread around Trojans Field.

Salem’s Dustin Dunlop hit a slow-rolling groundball to third base that the Trojans fielded and threw away. The two-base error was followed one out later with another error, two runs and a bad case of déjà vu.

“It was like, ‘here we go again,’” Lee County coach Rob Williams said.

That’s because it was approximately 23 hours earlier the Trojans committed five errors and lost Game 1 of the GHSA Class AAAA quarterfinals the same way.

Following another five-error game, Lee County’s problem of the season finally ended it as the Trojans lost the decisive third game, 4-1, and thwarted hopes of returning to a second consecutive Final Four.

“That’s been our Achilles’ heel all year,” Williams said a day after his Trojans won 10-2 in Game 2 behind an error-free performance. “We played poor defense and that’s nobody’s fault but mine. That put us behind the 8-ball and we couldn’t catch up.”

While the season came to an end prematurely by Lee County standards, Williams declared his 19th season with the Trojans a success.

“To start the season, the prognosticators picked us to finish third in the region, and we won it,” said Williams as the Trojans finished 23-11. “Then we weren’t supposed to get past the first round and we weren’t supposed to get past the second round. We won both of those. And to do all that after starting 3-7 on the season, I’d say that’s just a credit to our kids’ character.”

Though the Trojans were not able to make the comeback Wednesday that never-say-die attitude still showed up.

The Trojans trailed 2-0 for five innings thanks to a strong outing from sophomore starter Justin McCalvin. After escaping a disastrous first with two unearned runs, he settled in and allowed two earned runs on six hits in six innings.

“The errors didn’t bother me that much,” McCalvin said. “I just didn’t want it to happen any more. When I settled in, I had my curveball working and I was throwing groundballs.”

McCalvin did not walk a batter until the sixth, and when he did, he paid for it. Dunlop stepped to the plate after the base on balls and blasted a two-run home run off the trees in left field to make it 4-0.

“Yeah, that was a mistake,” McCalvin said. “It was a fastball at his knees and he did his job.”

To chants of “Let’s Go Trojans” from the home crowd, Lee County tried for a little magic in the seventh.

When Colton Glover led off with a double and Kent Patrick reached on an error, it appeared something might happen. But after Glover scored on a groundout from Jeremy Sheffield, the rally was killed with two consecutive fly outs.

“I don’t think the home run (in the sixth) took the fight out of us,” Williams said. “I think it just made it a harder road.”

When it was all said and done, Trojans’ players shared hugs and family members took pictures as nine seniors, eight of whom made contributions this week, are lost to graduation.

UPDATE ON BREWER

Salem's Jonathon Brewer, who was injured in a collision with catcher Zach Hood in Tuesday's game, was diagnosed with a broken neck in between his fifth and sixth vertebrae.

He was transported to a hospital in Atlanta to get a second opinion but if there is no change in his prognosis, he is scheduled to have surgery today.

RALLYING AROUND

After all that happened to the Seminoles on Tuesday night, with Brewer's injury, top hitter Drew Dentler’s ejection and suspendion, and a 10-2 loss, the Seminoles rallied around each other.

"Jonathan wanted these guys to play baseball," Salem coach Chris Davis said. "That was the best way for us to give something back to him was with a win. That way he can come back and watch us.

More Sports>>