Tanner Hall sharp as Houston County tops Jones County

Jones County had its chances early against Tanner Hall.

And then the Greyhounds got through a drought and threatened late, but Hall had the answer then, too, to pace Houston County to a 5-2 win Friday over Jones County in a big GHSA Region 2-AAAAA game.

The Greyhounds couldn't get much going in suffering their first loss of the season after scoring 70 runs in their previous seven games.

Hall retired seven straight with strikeouts in the fourth, fifth and sixth innings and then got a strikeout with runners on second and third to end the sixth.

Houston County (10-5, 4-0 Region 2-AAAAA) didn't take much advantage of Bradley Hunnicutt's early control problems, putting only two across in the first despite two singles and three walks, including one with the bases loaded.

Hunnicutt was lifted in the second with two on and one out, and Chandler Ramage got two fly balls to end it. The Greyhounds (11-1, 2-1) got one run back in the second, went through the dry spell, threatened in the sixth only for Hall to get a strikeout on Hunnicutt to end the tease, and added one in the seventh. An error on a routine grounder extended the seventh and ended Hall's day. Tony Locey got the final out.

THREE WHO MATTERED

Hall: The lefty got sharper as the game progressed, and his streak of strikeouts ended with a walk to Teldrick Ross. Hall struck and walked two in getting a save Wednesday and improved to 4-1 with the win Friday. He also had two of the Bears' six hits.

Blake Dawson: Houston County's leadoff batter was hitless, but he reached twice on walks and scored both times.

Ramage: He had control problems but continued battling and kept the Greyhounds within striking distance. He left in the seventh after two errors and a hit batter led to a run and a 5-1 deficit.

TURNING POINT

Leading only 2-0 and then 2-1 early no doubt frustrated Houston County. But the Greyhounds let a chance slip away in the second, getting a run but stranding runners with two straight outs and in the third with an inning-ending double play. Hall's strikeout streak then got started.

OBSERVATION

Some odd help: Jones County's Brooks Veal led off the first with a single and was bunted to second, where he was promptly picked off, a crusher with the Greyhounds amid an early deficit. ... In the third, a third strike popped out of catcher Jordan Miller's glove, allowing Locey to reach first and Austin Hittinger -- who had just moved from second to third on a balk -- to score the Bears' third run. ... In the seventh, Jones County suffered uncharacteristic problems on routine defensive plays when second baseman Keever Walker dropped a throw at first, and then Ramage couldn't catch a throw from catcher Jordan Miller at the plate after a wild pitch. Jake Fromm was out by 3 feet if Ramage made the catch.

WORTH NOTING

Ramage OK: There was speculation that Ramage's turn to pitch was pushed back because of a rotator cuff injury. But the soreness one night earlier this week was gone the next day, and the senior gave the Greyhounds five-plus good innings of relief, with six strikeouts and two walks.

All Hall: The winning pitcher finished with nine strikeouts and one walk, a quality night against a team that reached the Class AAAAA semifinals lsat year. He fanned 15 in a win over Warner Robins 10 days earlier.

THEY SAID IT

Hall on the game plan: "The plan was we had to have everything working. We couldn't have just one pitch. They can hit the fastball, so we had to keep them off balance with everything. My change-up was good."

Houston County head coach Jason Brett on confidence: "Five runs with this bunch ... I'm not saying it always holds up, but I like my chances with five runs with the pitching staff we run out there."

Brett on Hall's night: "We didn't really throw a ton of curveballs. He started locating his fastball, and we were able to pitch off that a little it. When he has that change-up with fast ball arm speed, it looks like a fastball coming out. He was in control. He controlled the game."

Jones County head coach Jason Page on the rough start: "We started off real sluggish. For one, our starting pitcher didn't have his best stuff, tried to battle through it. We were somehow able to manage that first inning and come out of it only 2-0. We didn't want to go down 2-0, but at the same time, only giving up two runs was big."

WHAT'S NEXT?

Houston County hosts Northside on Tuesday, while Jones County hosts Warner Robins on Tuesday.

This story was originally published March 18, 2016 at 9:35 PM with the headline "Tanner Hall sharp as Houston County tops Jones County ."