Woodland’s 2024 baseball season came to an end in the Class 5A Sweet 16 tournament Monday night on the road when Loganville swept the Wildcats.
Despite losing twice, Woodland didn’t go quietly, falling 2-1 in 10 innings in the first game and losing the second contest 5-2.
It was a historic year for the Wildcats as it was only the second time in school history they advanced to the Sweet 16.
“We went on the road against a perennial power in Loganville and we were not intimidated,” head coach Todd Eubanks said. “We competed tooth and nail.”
The Wildcats enjoyed success with different players stepping up throughout the season.
Woodland ended its season with a 17-15 record.
The Wildcats advanced to the Sweet 16 with a series victory against Cambridge in the opening round last week to set up the contest against Loganville.
In the first game against Loganville, the teams battled into extra innings before the Red Devils walked off with the victory in the bottom of the 10th.
The Wildcats took the early lead in the first game when they pushed across the first run of the game in the top of the third.
Mason Williams drove in Jonathan Ryan to give the Wildcats the lead.
The Red Devils tied the game in the bottom of the fifth with a run and from there the contest turned into a pitching duel the rest of the way.
The contest remained scoreless until the bottom of the 10th when Jordan Johnson gave the Red Devils the victory with an RBI.
Two pitchers went to the mound for the Wildcats with JD Trail and Zach Lambert striking out two batters each.
J.P. Myers picked up the win for the Red Devils pitching all three extra innings en route to securing the victory.
Myers gave up just one hit and struck out two.
In the second game, Woodland scored a run in the bottom of the first inning and pushed the lead to 2-0 with a run in the bottom of the third.
Loganville tied the game in the fourth and broke the game open with three runs in the sixth to clinch the series victory.
The Red Devils outhit the Wildcats in the second game 8-4.
Both of the Wildcats’ runs were unearned.
Jake Clowers, Williams, Logan Bentley and Conner Stermer each had hits for the Wildcats in their final game of the season.
Bentley had a double for the Wildcats.
Despite the loss, the Wildcats pitchers finished with 10 strikeouts.
Austin Daves struck out six and Ayden Ray, four.
Jaylen Jones picked up the win for the Red Devils while striking out four in relief.
Eight seniors finished their high school careers for the Wildcats, including Luke Evans, Joshua Hicks, Brett Good, Stermer, Lambert, Bentley, Ray and Williams.
Lambert and Ray signed letters of intent on Tuesday and will continue their baseball careers at the college level.
Lambert is headed to East Georgia and Ray will play at USC-Lancaster.
“This is a blue-collar group of seniors, they have worked hard to build a good foundation,” Eubanks said. “The seniors were really good mentors to our younger players.”
Loganville takes on McIntosh in the Class 5A Elite 8.
McIntosh swept its series, beating Coffee County, 1-0 and 4-1.
