Grand Ridge O-Zone takes win over Liberty County

The Grand Ridge O-Zone All-Stars earned a chance at a District 5 Tournament title with a 7-2 win over Liberty County Wednesday night in Malone. Grand Ridge was set to face Malone Thursday night in the championship game.  A full report on that game will be in Sunday’s paper.

Thursday’s matchup with Malone was the third of the tournament between the two Jackson County rivals. It marked the second straight year the teams have met for the district title.

Grand Ridge won Monday’s meeting 8-7, before Malone rebounded with a 17-7 win on Tuesday to advance to the championship round.

The teams’ coaches drew out of a hat after Tuesday’s game to see who got the bye to Thursday night, and who would have to play its way in on Wednesday.

Malone won the drawing, and Grand Ridge had to take the field Wednesday.

Fortunately for Grand Ridge coach Chris Johnson, his team took care of business. The offense put four runs on the board in the first inning, and starting pitcher Dustin Sneads shut down the Liberty County offense throughout most of the night.

“Our guys played well,” Johnson said. “(Liberty County) only had about three hits, we didn’t make but a couple of errors and we hit the ball well. We just played a really good game.”

The four first-inning runs were more than enough for pitcher Sneads, whose performance Johnson raved about.

“Dustin Sneads did a fantastic job,” he said. “That was probably one of the best games he’s ever pitched.”

Chris Green hit a two-run home run in the first inning to put Grand Ridge out in front. Cade Hall also starred at the plate for Grand Ridge, going 3-for-3 on the day. Grand Ridge added two more runs in the third inning, then another in the fourth and in the fifth, to go up 7-2.

Johnson said that Green, who started in Monday’s win over Malone, would be back on the mound for the title game against Malone ace Antwan Johnson, who was also on the mound on Monday.

“Malone’s got a good team,” Johnson said. “Fundamentally, they play very well, don’t make a lot of errors and don’t beat themselves. That’s what I told my kids. The one thing we have to do is be more consistent and patient at the plate. I think if we cut down on our errors and the pitchers throw strikes tonight, it will be extremely competitive.”