Chargers gear up for conference home stretch with three wins

Georgia Highlands baseball stepped out of Georgia Collegiate Athletic Association play this week to sweep a Wednesday doubleheader at Emmanuel College against the Lions’ JV and defeat the Shorter Universisty JV team at LakePoint on Thursday.

Wednesday, Georgia Highlands won 11-1 and 9-2 at Emmanuel College.

The Chargers broke a 2-1 game open with a six-run fifth inning in the opener. Alex Holdbrooks and Dalton Bradford combined on a two-hitter and totaled seven strikeouts.

Cameron Hearn had a three-hit game that included a double, a triple, and five RBI to lead the Chargers. Zach Miller contributed two hits and Bryson Horne homered for GHC.

In Game 2, the Chargers pushed across seven runs in the second inning on their way to a seven-run win.

GHC pitchers Jake Meyer and Brady Barker combined for nine strikeouts and allowed only one unearned run on two hits. The Chargers’ offense totaled 11 hits including homeruns by Brandon Allen, Joey Demasi, Willis Kemp, and Jaree Pledger. Parker Orr had a two-hit game.

Thursday, the Chargers topped Shorter JV 16-5 and pounded out 16 hits.

Hearn was 4-for-5 with a double and two RBI. Willis Kemp, Parker Orr, and Skylar McPhee finished with two hits each and combined for nine RBI.

Connor Dove was credited with the Georgia Highlands’ pitching win with three shutout innings of middle relief. He struck out five.

The Chargers (27-15, 10-10) return to conference play Tuesday when they host Andrew College at LakePoint at 5 p.m. GHC will then travel to Andrew in Cuthbert on Friday and Saturday to complete the four-game series.

With ten regular season conference games remaining, GHC sits fourth in the GCAA standings and is five games behind first place East Georgia. The Chargers trail second place South Georgia State by 4.5 games and third place Gordon State by 1.5 games.