Season ends for Indians as Eagles sweep advance to final four

SHARPSBURG-Maybe it was the baseball gods or bad luck that doomed the East Coweta Indians as their 2013 baseball season came to an end Tuesday night as they were swept by the Milton Eagles in the third round of the AAAAAA state playoffs.
In game one, the Indians held a 4-1 before the wheels began to come apart in the top of the sixth inning and eventually the Eagles scored four runs in the top of the seventh inning to come away with a 7-4 victory.
Errors in the early portion of game two as well as the inability to solve Eagles starting pitcher Dylan Cease haunted the Indians as they were defeated 11-1 in five innings.
Despite the sweep, the Indians will finish the season with a 28-5 record and the Region 3-AAAAAA championship while the Eagles improve to 25-7-2 and will face Parkview in the Final Four next Monday after the latter swept Colquitt County 16-11 and 7-3.
In the opener, the Eagles took the first lead of the game in the bottom of the second inning when John Thompson reached on a leadoff double and moved to third on an error in the outfield before coming home on a sacrifice fly by A. Cease.
The Indians came back in the bottom of the inning as Matthew Meyer reached on a one out double and after Blake Lorow reached on a two out walk, Travis Williams followed with a single that scored Meyer who slid into the catcher as the throw came into home.
On the play, courtesy runner Graden Treadwell also slid into home with the lead run while allowing Williams to advance to third.
In the bottom of the third inning, the Indians were able to add to the lead with as Bryce gemmel reached on a force play and with two outs came home on a single by Jeremy Walton who took second on the throw home and eventually scoring on a single by Meyer.
For most of the game, the lead was enough for Indians starter Zack McCurry who was putting batters away with regularity through the first five innings of the game.
In the top ofthe sixth inning, he would get extended as the first two batters of the frame reached on infield errors .
The top of the seventh inning would become McCurry's undoing as he walked the first batter and allowed a one out single to Farkas before loading the bases after hitting Gridley.
McCurry was lifted in favor of Cole Amtmann who was unable to get the double play as he surrendered a two-run single to Sean Brophy that gave Milton a 5-4 lead.
The Eagles extended the lead as Gridley scored from third on a sacrifice fly and Brophy completed the scoring when he came home on a wild pitch.
Eagles' pitcher Payton Smith ended the game when he retired the Indians in order in the bottom of the seventh to get the win while McCurry suffered his first defeat after winning his first 13 games.
Amtmann got the ball in the nightcap and unfortunately he did not have the luck he enjoyed in the deciding game last week against Marietta as a pair of errors and a pair of walks in the bottom of the first inning led to four runs for the Eagles including a two-run single by Farkas.
Milton took a 7-0 lead in the bottom of the second inning as an error led to a pair of runs as well as an RBI single by Ewing.
The Indians got on the board in the top of the third inning as Cameron Smith and Gemmel reached on consecutive two out walks with both advancing on two wild pitches by Cease to score the lone run for EC as Smith crossed home plate.
Austin Bellamy took over for Amtmann in the bottom of the third inning and he would struggle as all but one batter reached base with Thompson hitting a two-run triple as part of a four-run frame that ended when Brandon Ruston came into the game and induced a pop to short by Ewing.
Ruston would pitch to two batters in the bottom of the fourth inning and retired both before Jay Mann came into the game to pitch his final EC contest and he went out with a bang as recorded a strikeout.
The Indians were retired in order in the top of the fifth inning and the Eagles left with the series sweep.