Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Go-Devils Win District Title

Gurdon's baseball team earned the Go-Devils's third district title of the school year.

They did this by severely whipping the Stephens Roadrunners 25-6 in the district finals Friday afternoon at Cabe Field.

The beating was so bad, in fact, the Stephens coach, in the bottom of the third, asked the 10-run rule be put in effect so the game could be called after five innings.

The final score was not indicative of how bad Stephens was beaten. Actually, there was never any doubt as to which was the superior team at all.

The Devils were also the conference champs with a 7-1 record. The only loss came at the hands of Lewisville, when several key members of the team were absent.

Jarod Toland pitched a solid game, primarily utilizing a blazing fast ball to confuse the Stephens batters.

In the first inning, Toland retired the side in order, recording a pair of K's in the offing.

Gurdon, on the other hand, went on a nine-run tear to get their portion of the contest underway. The game became a home run derby as the Devils sent four over the fence, two in the first inning.

Tonio Gatlin reached on an error, advancing on a Justin Griffin single. The two came home when Josh Griffin took his first of the day deep for a three-run shot.

The first out came when Brandon Jennings popped out to the pitcher. This was followed by singles from Paul McMillan and Toland. Jeff Rhodes belted a double to bring them in and scored when White singled, after L. Crain flied out.

In his second at bat of the inning, Gatlin smacked a ground rule double, but came home when Justin Griffin went long.

Aside from a gift walk, Toland fanned the side in the top of the second.

Gurdon's second wasn't as productive as the first, but the players could have been winded after the first frame's track meet. The Devils only scored twice to make it 11-0.

Jennings flied out to start things off, with McMillan getting hit by a pitch. Toland reached on an error, with McMillan scoring when Rhodes hit into a fielder's choice.

Crain followed with a one-bagger and found a way to steal second, getting all the way to third. A single by White scored Rhodes, with the inning ending as Gatlin grounded to second.

Toland was nicer in the third as he walked two, fanned two and allowed a weak grounder be hit to second.

The offense, however, was not so kind, as the Devils added another seven to the score sheet.

Justin Griffin singled, scoring when brother Josh took his second one out of the park.

Jennings, who had a rough day, flied out to second. This was followed by a McMillan single and walk to Toland. Rhodes cleared the bases by taking one deep.

Crain was hit by a pitch and watched as White flied out. Gatlin moved Crain along by walking, with Crain going home when Justin Griffin singled. This also scored Gatlin.

Josh Griffin was hit by a pitch, possibly to keep him from completing the hat trick with homers.

With a comfortable 18-0 lead, Toland was feeling magnanimous and allowed the visitors to score in the top of the fourth. This is when Stephens got all six of its runs.

The inning opened with the first Roadrunner going down, before the next two belted back to back singles. Toland walked the fourth batter of the inning before a wild pitch brought one in. The bases were again loaded when he hit A. Glover with a pitch. F. Todd got an easy RBI by walking.

Toland then made his biggest mistake of the game as he fired a fast ball down the middle to Kleinpeters. The batter thanked Toland for his generosity by connecting for a grand slam.

This helped settle Toland down as he retired the next batter to get out of the inning.

The rest of the team still refused to be kind and tacked another seven runs on in the bottom of the fourth.

McMillan opened with a single and two stolen bases. Toland walked, before Rhodes drove McMillan in with a one bagger. Crain added a pair of RBIs to his stats with a double before White struck out.

Gatlin walked, while Justin Griffin singled to bring Crain in. Josh Griffin's double cleared the paths of Gatlin and brother Justin. He scored when Jennings singled. Jennings was left as McMillan and Toland were retired.

In earlier tourney action, Nevada beat Lewisville 13-8 to end the Red Devils' season. Stamps fell to Stephens 16-13 in a slugfest.

The Yellowjackets ended the Blue Jays season 7-1, while Stephens also retired Lewisville 12-4.

Gurdon opened regional play at Horatio at 1 p.m. Monday. The Devils must make it to the finals in order to advance to the state tournament next week.