By: Grace Grosenbach

Last Thursday’s win against JU Blacksher was nothing short of sweet revenge for the Brantley baseball team. The Bulldogs played Blacksher the previous Monday in Uriah, where they lost 10-0. On top of that, Blacksher was also the team that put them out of the playoffs last season. However, none of this stopped Brantley from preparing for battle Thursday night.

The Bulldogs’ competitive spirit was evident even from the start of the game. Things really picked up for Brantley in the bottom of the third, when senior Jacob Free hit a double and sent in two runs for the Bulldogs. When asked about the overall quality of offense during the game, freshman catcher Grant Odom said, “Everybody hit the ball really well. We didn’t make near as many errors as we usually do. So, you could really see our improvement as a team.”

Defense for the team was also a great asset to their win over Blacksher last Thursday. Senior center fielder Tommy Spivey made a double-play that night, when he caught a fly ball in the outfield and threw it straight to home plate. His play prevented JU Blacksher’s runner from scoring. When commenting on the game, Spivey said, “We came out tonight and competed like we were supposed to. We were great in the field tonight, and our pitchers did a good job.”

In comparison to last Monday’s game, Spivey believed that the main thing the team improved on was their approach on offense.

“We cracked down on our at-bats tonight,” he said. “Monday night, we didn’t hit good at all, and that hurt us a lot in the game.”

After a great game filled with hard work and improvement, the Bulldogs came out on top with a final score of 6-3.

“We really shined as a team tonight,” junior second baseman Adrian Person Jr. said. “Everybody played a great game, and we finally got to show Blacksher who we are.” The Bulldogs’ record currently sits at 7-6.