Bellamy tosses no-hitter as EC defeats Douglas County in five

After pitching a one-hitter a year ago against Douglas County, East Coweta pitcher Austin Bellamy proved to be even more stingy as he flirted with a perfect game and still came away with a no-hitter as the Indians defeated the Tigers 11-0 in five innings.
The Region 3-AAAAAA victory was the Indians eighth straight overall as they improve to 12-5 and 7-0 in the region.
After Bellamy retired the Tigers in order with two by strikeout in the top of the first inning, his Indian teammates gave him the only runs he would need to seal his seventh win against one defeat with four runs in the bottom of the frame.
With one out, Nick Pippin reached on a single to left and advanced to third on a double by Bryce Gemmel before scoring on a sacrifice fly to center field by Matthew Meyer.
Gemmel stole third while Stephan Cruver at the plate and the latter reached after being hit by a pitch.
Austin Jones a flyball to center with what was to be the third out but the ball was dropped and both runners came home to give the Indians a 3-0 lead while Jones hustled to second.
The scoring of the inning ended as Jaquez Williams drilled a single to right field allowing courtesy runner Austen Russel to come home.
The Indians essentially put the game away in the top of the second inning when 10 batters came to the plate with five scoring and the lead was 9-0.
Devonte Brown led off by reaching first when he was hit by a pitch and advanced to second on a sacrifcie bunt by Cam Smith.
Pippin was hit by a pitch and Gemmel followed with a walk to load the bases for Meyer who singled to left for two RBIs and Cruver followed with a run scoring single as well.
With Meyer and Cruver in scoring position, Jones came through for the Indians as he brought both home with a single.
Meanwhile, Bellamy was in complete control on the mound as he continued to send Tigers batters back to the dugout by either groundout or flyball as his defense played a solid game.
After a scoreless third inning, the Indians added two more runs in the bottom of the fourth inning as Cruver singled and Jones walked ahead of run scoring singles by Williams and Makenzie Martin.
In the top of the fifth, Bellamy retired the first batter but lost his perfect game bid as he walked the next, but the senior recovered to induce a groundout and a strikeout to win the game and earn his no-hitter.
The two teams will move their series to Douglasville on Thursday and will end it in Sharpsburg on Friday with the EC Alumni Game to follow.