Register’s near no-no sends Vikings to Final Four

Published 3:49 pm Monday, May 8, 2023

VALDOSTA – The Lowndes High Vikings are headed to the Final Four.

A five-run third inning put the Vikings ahead 6-0 early and stellar pitching and defense kept the North Gwinnett Bulldogs at bay for a 9-3 victory Friday evening.

“It’s awesome,” Lowndes head coach Ryan Page said. “I tell you, these kids work so hard and they put all of the time and effort in and it’s awesome to be able to do that here at Lowndes. I’m extremely excited for the kids and the whole community in general. They’ve gotten behind us all year and it’s just been fun. If you didn’t see that crowd today, it was just amazing.”

Game 3 starter, senior Luke Register, had a no-hitter going through 5.5 innings before having it broken up by North Gwinnett’s Koa Kloehs in the bottom of the sixth. Kloehs’ hit provided a small opening for the Bulldogs to possibly mount a rally as Tyler Bak doubled and Ryan Hall came through with an RBI for the first run of the game.

“We saw (Thursday) in Game 1 with us – when they got up early, our guys kind of laid down a little bit,” Page said. “We talked about that and then when we got up in Game 2, so it was huge getting up early. I thought that was a huge momentum swing for us.

“I’m very proud of Luke. I mean, what a gutsy performance. The kid’s been doing it all year. It’s just amazing how well he pitches and commands the game, and he’s had a lot of success doing it that way.”

The trio of hits was the only offense the Bulldogs could muster in the sixth, however, as Erik Parker flew out and Brodie Baweja’s shot across the infield was snagged on a diving catch by the Vikings to end the threat.

Behind Register, the Vikings’ defense made sure the Bulldogs didn’t get too many balls past it. Lowndes center fielder Qrey Lott made several plays in the outfield, showing impressive speed and range to make catches for outs throughout the game.

“Qrey covers 229,” Page said. “He covers the whole area code. He makes every play. He’s just such a great kid and you just love to see good things happen to good kids. He’s tremendous. He made a couple of really good plays. Ashton Bohler, at short stop, made a really big play in a situation where we needed an out. To make it this far, you’ve got to have those things go your way and it was good to see today.”

Register added, “Coming out here, I was a little nervous. I did not expect to do as well as I did. I just thank God for that because He’s the one that gave me everything that I have. I watched film today in class and watched how they swung at certain pitches and how they looked at pitches and I just mastered that change-up over in the bullpen before the game and it just seemed to work tonight. It definitely feels good, helping my team move to the Final Four.”

The Vikings added another run in the top of the seventh as Georgia Tech commit Carson Page brought in a run on at error at first base to bring Coleman Lewis across to make it 9-1 in favor of the Vikings.

With a final chance to make some headway at the plate, Jake Gaskill smacked a base hit and Kloehs drove in a run to make it 9-2. Following a walk issued to Trey James, the Vikings pulled Register, who had begun to fade a bit into the latter parts of the game after the Bulldogs foiled his no-hitter.

“That sixth inning, when the no-hitter got broke up, I didn’t really care for it as much,” Register said. “We were up 8-0 and I just was like, ‘I have two more innings. I can close this out. Who cares about a no-hitter?’ But that last inning, I got a little gassed. I started using just my upper body, not my legs, and good enough, my buddy Caleb Thornton came in and closed it out for us. He’s been a really good pitcher this year too and it just feels good for me and him to help out on this baseball team.”

Against reliever Caleb Thornton, Bak came through with a sacrifice fly RBI to cut the deficit to 9-3, but Thornton got Hall to fly out to Lott in center field to end the game.

In addition to his defensive prowess, Lott led the way for the Vikings’ bat as well – going 2-for-2 with two runs scored and two RBIs along with a walk. Ashton Bohler also went 2-for-2 with two runs and a walk. Jordan Hudson added two hits of his own with two RBIs while Cooper Melvin, Noah Thigpen and Nate Slaughter each had a hit in the game.

With the win, the Vikings are back in the state semifinals where they’ll host the North Paulding Wolfpack Wednesday afternoon. First pitch of the doubleheader is scheduled for 4:30 p.m.

Sitting two wins away from Truist Park in Atlanta and the chance to play for a state championship for the first time in 23 years, Register and the Vikings are looking to go out on top.

“(North Gwinnett) is a really talented baseball team and to get a victory over them and move on, it really gives us that good momentum to keep going,” Register said. “This will be history. It’ll be 23 years since the last state championship and it would be awesome for the seniors in our last year to help get another title for them.”