Chargers eliminated at NJCAA East Central District tourney by conference foe.

The Georgia Highlands Chargers baseball team fell behind early and couldn’t come back in a 12-4 loss to East Georgia on Thursday. East Georgia, a fellow member of the Georgia Collegiate Athletic Association, took the lead on a double in the second inning when catcher Michael Pineda doubled with one out in the second inning.

East Georgia scored four runs in the seventh inning. The big inning for East Georgia came thanks to a single by Ashton Pratt and a double by Ryan Woiwode. Home runs for Georgia Highlands came when Brandon Bell homered in the sixth inning and Matthew Vacarro homered in the fourth inning. Bell, Vacarro, Bronco O’Brien, Nick Piccapietra, and Caleb McElwaney all had one hit to lead the Charger offense.

East Georgia collected 12 hits. Woiwode, Gage Brown, and Drew Haygood each collected multiple hits for East Georgia. Brown went 3-for-3 at the plate as he led the team with four runs batted in.

Matthew Norton started Thursday’s game for the Chargers and tossed 4.1 innings and allowed five runs, but just two were earned. The Charger bullpen got roughed up for the second time in as many days as Tyler Sellers, Britt Buckelew and Bradley Hood tossed 2.2 inningsand allowed seven earned runs. The defense for Georgia Highlands was also faulty for the second consecutive game, as the team committed three errors.

The Chargers 2017 season is officially in the books. Georgia Highlands set new school records under first-year coach Dash O’Neill and ended with a 40-21 record and 14-10 in conference play. Both are the best records in school history.