Diamond Trojans bounce back; Highlanders advance

Michael Sneed and T.J. English homered and Keaton Brown and Marc English closed the door on a comeback attempt by Aquinas as the Diamond Trojans ended the regular season with a 13-8 win over the Region 4A champion Fighting Irish (18-7) at Aldora Field Saturday afternoon.Lamar County (17-9) will travel to Bogart Friday for the first round of the GHSA Class AA state playoffs against North Oconee (23-3). The Titans, ranked fifth in the state, are the number two seed from Region 8AA while the Trojans finished third in 5AA.The two teams will play two games in a best of three series Friday with an “if necessary” game scheduled for Saturday.Gordon College made short work of Young Harris with a pair of run rule wins over the Mountain Lions in the first round of the GJCAA playoffs Saturday at the Highlander Athletic Complex. GC topped Young Harris (39-17), who will be moving to four year Division II next season, 20-1 in game one behind the pitching of Ted Pratt. Robbie Payne’s three run homer in the fifth for Gordon gave the Highlanders a 14-4 win in game two. Blake Thomas was the winning pitcher.The Highlanders (36-20) will travel to Douglas this weekend to take on South Georgia (39-19) in the semifinals of the Region XVII tournament.Gordon split four games with the Tigers during the regular season.