JCBC 17, Schlappi Joes 16

JOHNS CREEK — After falling behind 2-0 in the top of the first, the first 8 men reached base and scored for JCBC in the bottom half of the first. After a scoreless second inning for both teams, JCBC would relinquish the lead in the third. A dropped ball error extended the top of the third for Schlappi Joes and they took advantage by pushing 7 runs across for a 9-8 lead.

But JCBC battled back again with four runs of their own in the bottom of the third to regain the lead. After the first two men reached base, Chris delivered a run scoring single. After two men scored on an error, David drove in another run with a ground out. JCBC tacked on two more in the bottom of the fourth on back-to-back RBI hits by Nathaniel and Bryan.

Taking a 5-run lead into the fifth inning, JCBC was bit by the big inning again. Schlappi Joes struck for seven runs, but a double play and a runner thrown out at home staunched the damage. Needing two runs to tie, Austin doubled in one run, but a base-running mishap led to an out. A few batters later, John lifted a sacrifice fly to right to bring in the tying run. With two outs and the bases loaded, Nathaniel lined a walk-off single to center to end the game.

JCBC improved to 2-0 on the season with their second come-from-behind victory. Consistent offensive production and some timely defense helped JCBC win its second straight game to open the season. They take on the Dirty Birds next week.

 

JCBC 13, Ironmen 11

Johns Creek Baptist Church returned to the softball field after six long years, and in search of their first victory in over a decade. Relying on pitching, defense and extended rallies, JCBC fought back from an 11-7 deficit to claim a 13-11 victory in their 2014 season opener.

Aided by two errors and five consecutive singles, JCBC opened their season with a 5-run first inning. They tacked on two more runs in the second inning before running into some trouble. Josh allowed 10 runs in the bottom of the second inning to cough up a 7-0 lead.

New pitcher David Keel allowed one run in the third to push the deficit to four runs headed into the fourth inning. The top of the Johns Creek order went to work again as Austin doubled to lead off the inning and scored on Zachary’s single. Back-to-back hits by Josh and Nathaniel cut the lead to 2 and loaded the bases with two outs before Bryan delivered a 2-run single to tie the game at 11.

David shut down the opposing team in the bottom of the fourth and Johns Creek got run scoring hits from John and Jeff in the fifth to take a 13-11 lead. David loaded the bases in the bottom of the fifth, but John made a leaping catch in left field to preserve the win.