Veterans rallies to knock off Perry

PERRY -- The Veterans baseball team overcame an early deficit Tuesday to post a 7-5 GHSA Region 2-AAAA win over Perry. Logan Arnett pitched 5 1/3 innings of four-hit relief to get the win, while Gabe Holt and Leyton Pinckney both drove in two runs.

Both starting pitchers struggled and were gone by the fourth inning. Veterans starter Kyle Parry gave up four runs in less than two innings of work, and Perry starter Drew Martens could not get out of the fourth inning and was touched for five runs. But both teams got strong outings from the bullpen. Cal Gentry relieved Martens and pitched the rest of the way for Perry and gave up only two unearned runs.

FOUR WHO MATTERED

Arnett: He is not one of the main pitchers for Veterans, but with four games this week, Veterans head coach David Coffey told Arnett that he would be the first one out of the bullpen. He allowed only one run and was able to finish the game, which is huge because the Warhawks play again Wednesday against Tift County.

Pinckney: He knocked in two runs with a walk in the first and a run scoring single in the pivotal fourth inning.

Holt: He drove in two runs and had two hits.

Gentry: He had two hits for Perry and a RBI, and kept the Panthers in the game with his excellent relief pitching.

TURNING POINT

Perry took a 4-3 lead after three innings, but Veterans answered in the fourth. Holt led the inning off with a double and Tyler Daughtry drove him in with a double to left. Pinckney singled in Daughtry, and Veterans never trailed again.

THEY SAID IT

Veterans head coach David Coffey on playing Perry: "We know straight up that nothing will be easy when we play Perry. I was with Lorne Tucker (Perry head coach) a little bit after the second inning, and we were talking about our games always being like this one (Tuesday). We are just glad to get out of here with a region win."

Coffey on Arnett and his pitching performance: "He's been mainly a relief pitcher for us and we weren't sure how long he could go  because we have not stretched him out like we ended up doing (Tuesday). I think he ended up right around 70 pitches and he was outstanding , and we definitely needed that kind of performance from him."

Coffey on playing four games this week when the players are on break from school: "I really am not sure why I saw fit to make this schedule, and it's going to be a tough week, but in the long run it will be good for us. But yes I would agree, that's a tough week when they are out of school.

Arnett on his call to the mound and his performance: "Coach Coffey had let me know that I was going to be the first one up today and I was excited about the opportunity. I felt good most of the way but I was starting to get a little tired.  I had a lot of fun and it was great to beat probably our biggest rival. Arnett on the four game week: I mean nobody really likes it, but we also don't mind it that much. It gets us out of the bed and moving and in the long run we know it's good for us. We are trying to win a state championship so we are willing to do whatever it takes."

WHAT'S NEXT?

Veterans travels to Tift County on Wednesday while Perry is off until April 5, when it plays West Laurens.

This story was originally published March 29, 2016 at 9:39 PM with the headline "Veterans rallies to knock off Perry ."