BASEBALL: Dragons gear up for Game 3 after splitting with Woodward Academy ...

After celebrating a walk-off win in Game 1 against Woodward Academy Wednesday night, Jefferson couldn’t recreate the magic in Game 2.
The Dragons’ Mason Cooper delivered a game-winning RBI single in the bottom of the seventh inning of the opener as Jefferson won 5-4. But Woodward Academy answered with a 5-1 victory in the nightcap to force a Game 3.
“It was up-and-down,” Jefferson coach Tommy Knight said. “It was a rollercoaster tonight.”
The teams will play a decisive third game in this Class AAAA state quarterfinals series Thursday at 5 p.m. in Jefferson. A trip to the Final Four is on the line.
Knight said his team must play better defense in the rubber game than it did Wednesday night.
“Both games tonight, we kind of gave some runs away and didn’t make some defensive plays behind Pat (Hickox) in the first game,” Knight said. “And then Lane (Watkins) wasn’t around the plate a whole lot (in Game 2), and we didn’t make defensive plays. If we do that (in Game 3), and Vinny (Farley) will be around the plate, I think we’ll be fine.”
Jefferson rallied from a 4-2 deficit in the bottom of the seventh in Game 1. The Dragons loaded the bases and scored after Clayton Jones was hit by a pitch, cutting the lead to 4-3, and Sammy Elegreet grounded out to bring home the tying score.
Cooper, a freshman, then ended the game with a two-out single up the middle.
“That’s a big spot for a young man who’s just 15 years old,” Knight said. “He’s not even driving yet. He’s stepping up with a big crowd, everybody screaming and hollering. To end the ball game like that, I’m very proud of him.”
Patrick Hickox threw a complete game for the win in Game 1.
Woodward Academy jumped on Jefferson early in Game 2, scoring three first-inning runs and adding two more in the third inning. War Eagle pitching held the Dragons off the scoreboard until the sixth inning when Jefferson scored its only run on an error.
“The second ball game we just never got anything going for whatever reason,” Knight said.
But the coach expressed confidence in his team for Thursday’s Game 3.
“Whatever it takes to win, we’re going to compete and battle,” he said. “Our guys never say a ball game is over with, and I like that about these guys. They’ve done it all year. We’ve never felt like we’re out of a ball game. I feel like we have a chance no matter what the score is.”