KENNESAW — The Vikings have punched their ticket to the semifinals.

Lowndes High earned a trip to the AAAAA state baseball semifinals with a doubleheader sweep of No. 2 Kennesaw Mountain Tuesday. The Vikings will either host East Coweta or travel to Lassiter next Monday for the semis.

Lowndes (25-6) won Game 1 with a slugfest, 11-2, then Chris Mederos pitched the Vikings to a 3-1 victory in Game 2.

Game 1: Lowndes 11, Kennesaw Mountain 2

Lowndes’ bats came out red hot in the first game. The Vikings scored 10 runs in the first three innings, and quickly turned the game into a rout.

In the top of the first inning, Lowndes put three quick runs on the board. With one out, JonMichael Redding walked, Matt Harper reached on an infield single, and John Simpson followed with a single to right field, scoring Redding. After Randy J. Williams reached on an error, Colby Yates jumped on a Will Casey change-up and lined a two-run single to center, scoring Harper and Simpson to make it 3-0.

Kennesaw Mountain got a run in the bottom of the inning. Dan DiPetta lined an RBI double to the fence in right center, making it 3-1.

Lowndes put three more runs on the board in the top of the second. Chris Mederos and Parker Pridgen started the inning with singles, then came a fielder’s choice. Redding stepped up to the plate, and ripped into a pitch, crushing a long fly ball over the fence, and off a light pole, in right center. Redding’s three-run homer made it 6-0 Vikings.

Lowndes scored four more runs in the third off of reliever Dylan Blakes. Dax Spriggs lined an RBI double to right center, scoring Jarrod Pass. A ground-rule double by Harper scored Spriggs, then John Simpson followed with a two-run single to left, making it 10-1.

Kennesaw Mountain got a run in the bottom of the third, and Lowndes added one in the fourth, when Pass scored on an error.



Game 2: Lowndes 3, Kennesaw Mountain 1

Mederos won a pitcher’s duel between undefeated pitchers named Chris, outdueling Kennesaw Mountain’s highly-touted Chris Masters, 3-1.

Mederos (10-0) held the Mustangs to one run on six hits, and struck out eight batters. Masters (6-1) allowed three runs, two earned, on five hits, and struck out eight.

Lowndes got two runs in the bottom of the third. Pridgen led off the third with a single to center. Dax Spriggs sacrificed Pridgen to second, and was safe when Masters didn’t field the ball cleanly. Then Redding grounded to short, but the second baseman missed the bag, and all three runners were safe.

Then came a crucial play for Lowndes. Harper grounded to short. Shortstop Ryan Davis fielded the ball and stepped on second, but Harper beat the throw by a hair. Kennesaw players and coaches immediately protested the call, and they started arguing with the umpire — without calling time out. Pridgen had already scored, and then Spriggs dashed for the plate and scored, making it 2-0. Kennesaw Mountain argued that time should have been called, but the run stood.

The Vikings added a run in the fourth. With one out, Pass walked, and Chase Prine pinch ran for him. Prine stole second, then Chris Powell grounded toward the hole. Davis dove and knocked the ball down, but it squirted by, and Prine came around to score.

Those were all the runs Mederos would need. Kennesaw Mountain had opportunities to score, but each time, Mederos shut the door.

Kennesaw Mountain made one last charge in the top of the seventh. The Mustangs loaded the bases on an error, a single, and a surprise bunt single. Mederos struck out Navarro Hall, but then Davis beat out an infield single, scoring Jeff Motley to make it 3-1. But with the tying run on second and go-ahead run on first, Mederos struck out Jordan Croft to end the game.