Suwanee,Ga – Monday was opening night in the Sunbelt league, and the Atlanta Crackers hosted the Choccolocco Monsters in Suwanee, GA. It was a night that started warm with some clouds in the sky but as the night went on the outfield had a lightning backdrop. With the lightning in the sky, the thunder was on the ground as we saw 4 home runs hit in the game.
The Crackers were the first on the board in the home half of the first inning on a Sac Fly by Kaleb Huffman. The Monsters answered the run with 2 runs of their own in the second inning off a 2 RBI double by Hugh Windle. The Crackers regained the lead in the third inning, scoring 2 runs in an inning with 3 walks and a hit.
In the fourth inning, the Monsters mashed in 6 runs off six hits 3 of the hits were home runs. The inning started with a Hayes Harrison opposite-field solo home run, four batters later Rashad Robinson bounced a ball off the scoreboard scoring 3 more runs. Two batters later Jake Goolsby hit another homerun that scored 2 more runs and gave the Monsters a commanding 8-3 lead. The Crackers pieced together 3 hits in the home half of the fourth to get one run back.
In the fifth inning is when the lightning showed up and delayed the game for an hour after a quick 2 outs in the inning. The game eventually continued, and the fifth inning ended up being the only scoreless inning of the night. The Monsters added 3 more runs to their lead in the sixth inning on 3 hits, a Sac fly, and an errant play. This game seemed like it was all but over as the Monsters took their 11-4 lead into the seventh inning, but the Crackers were not going down quietly.
In the Seventh inning, the Crackers scored 2 runs on 3 hits and a walk, but the main character of this story came up in the eighth inning. His name is Zach Terry and he hits dingers, after an RBI double by Gage Shaver, Terry hit a home run so far it landed in Truist Park. After the eighth inning was finished the Crackers crawled back into the game going into the ninth inning down 11-9.
Christian Harmon and Davis Williams kept the Monster's bats at bay in the eighth and ninth innings giving the Crackers a chance to mount a comeback win. Two runners were on base when Jaden Anderson came up to bat and he hit a rocket. Anderson’s RBI double just missed being a walk-off home run by 6 inches bouncing off the outfield wall. Monsters closer Avery Brown struck out the next batter for the second out and forced a pop-up to third base for the third out.
The Monster survived the Cracker's surge securing an 11-10 victory. Caleb Jatko was the winning pitcher and Avery Brown earned a save. It was a great opening night game for the Sunbelt league and the series will continue Wednesday night. If this game is any indication of things to come you will want to be in attendance for the show.
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