MCDONOUGH, Ga. — The Eastside Eagles secured their 13th win of the season on Friday as the team split matchups with Union Grove and Landmark Christian.

The Eagles out-hit their opponents in both matchups, both the team was only able to grab a win over the hosts, Union Grove.

Eastside 7, Union Grove 1

A four-run first was more than enough for Shane Griffin and the Eagles in game one.

Union Grove’s Cole Foley started his day off right with a line out from Chase Jordan. However, two walks and one hit not too long after led to a bases loaded jam.

Nolan Corvos stepped in, but before he could put the ball in play Parker Denmark scored via wild pitch. Corvos sent the next pitch deep into the outfield to score Tripp Swords on a sacrifice fly.

Following a walk from Allen Mills, Eli Christian made it a 3-0 lead on a RBI single. Mills later scored on a wild pitch to give the Eagles a 4-0 advantage before Levi Pickett ever stepped foot on the mound.

Pickett walked the first batter he faced, but the next three Wolverines went down in order.

A walk from Braylen Brown looked to start a one-out rally for Union Grove in the second, but a rare 5-3-4 double play ended the inning.

The walks continued to come from Pickett as he put two on in the third inning. However, the clutch pitching continued to be a strong part of Pickett’s game as he retired three batters in a row to get back in the dugout.

After a few scoreless frames, the Eagles’ bats caught fire once again in the fourth inning.

Following a leadoff strikeout from Rylan Daniel, Amond Sands and Jordan drew consecutive walks. With two on, Denmark laced a single into right field to score both runners. Swords later walked to put another Eagle on base, but the 6-0 lead stood ahead of the bottom of the fourth.

Pickett pitched through multiple close calls, but the Wolverines managed to put a run on the board to answer.

With two runners on base and no outs, Griffin made the change as Reid Thomas took over for Pickett. On a 2-2 pitch, a groundball resulted in an E-6 that allowed Joel Nsah to score the first run of the game for Union Grove.

The Wolverines looked to put more on the board as two men were on with no outs, but a dart from Christian nabbed a runner at second base for the first out.

From there, Thomas struck out the final two batters to escape the jam and keep any earned runs off Pickett’s stat sheet.

The Wolverines put runners on base in both the fifth and sixth innings against Thomas, but neither ended in success as the right-hander got out of the frame both times.

Following the team’s seventh RBI courtesy of Christian in the seventh, Thomas returned to the mound and tallied a pair of strikeouts before he recorded the final out of the game.

In the 7-1 win, Christian and Denmark finished with two hits and two RBIs apiece.

Pickett was tabbed as the winning pitcher as he tossed three innings and allowed one unearned run. Thomas pitched the final four innings and allowed zero runs on his way to four strikeouts.

Eastside 8, Landmark Christian 9

The Eagles mounted a late rally down by two, but they ultimately came up short in a 8-9 loss to the War Eagles.

Eastside’s Cooper Stokes and Landmark Christian’s Jackson Lee started the game for their respective teams and pitched scoreless frames in the first before both gave up ruins in their second time out.

For Lee, back-to-back errors to start the second frame led to Eastside’s first run on a sacrifice fly from Christian. A few batters later, Jordan hit a sacrifice fly of his own to make it a 2-0 lead.

However, a walk and sacrifice fly from the War Eagles tied the game not too long after.

Lee allowed the first two batters to reach once again in the third, but neither found their way around to score.

Stokes found himself in the same spot with two on and no out, but the War Eagles cashed in with a fielder’s choice RBI from Payton Gunn.

With a 3-2 lead, Landmark Christian added on.

Dylan Staples laid down an infield single to score Taylor Casson before another ground ball drove in Gunn. By the end of the third, the Eagles found themselves down 2-5.

In need of an answer, a one-out single from Sands started a short rally. With two on base, Denmark singled home Sands to cut the lead down to two.

Gunn scored on a wild pitch in the fifth, but the Eagles answered once again with an even bigger inning.

Following a leadoff single from Sands, Denmark singled him home once again to trim the lead down to 4-6. Two batters later, Jayden Bloodworth drove a ball through the right side of the infield to score Denmark.

A strikeout of Corvos put the second out on the board, but the Eagles put together two-out magic to take the lead.

Omari Blackshear and Christain came through with back-to-back RBI knocks. While the first one tied the game, Christian’s gave the Eagles a 7-6 lead ahead of the bottom of the sixth.

Blackshear took the mound in hopes of getting a quick frame, but Landmark Christian rallied once again.

With two runners on and one out, a RBI single from Gunn tied the game at 7-7. Elliot Nadreau struck out on a low pitch to follow, but the ball got past Christian, which allowed Casson to score on a passed ball.

In the ensuing at bat, Staples gave the War Eagles a very important insurance run on a sacrifice fly.

A Noah Ellis pop out ended the frame, but the damage was done as the Eagles trailed by two with only three outs remaining.

When the top of the seventh rolled around, it was practically a dream start for Eastside.

Following a single from Sands and a walk from Jordan, Eastside had two on with no outs. Denmark stepped in and laid down a bunt to move both runners into scoring position.

Swords then took his turn and hit a groundball to shortstop. The play scored a run, but it also took the Eagles down to their final out.

With the tying run just 90 feet away on third base, Bloodworth took a big swing and hit a sharp line drive to centerfield. However, the ball caught too much air as Casson ran under it to make the catch for the third and final out.

In what ended up as a 8-9 defeat, Sands led the Eagles with three hits, three stolen bases and three runs from the No. 9 spot in the lineup. Denmark finished with two hits, two RBIs and one run.

What’s next

The Eagles start their final series of the season today in a home matchup with North Oconee. Eastside will wrap up the regular season with a doubleheader against the Titans on Friday, April 17.