Wilson's gem leads Chargers past Highlanders

Drew Wilson tossed a nine inning complete game gem Friday night for Georgia Highlands College as the Chargers defeated visiting Gordon State at LakePoint in Emerson, 6-1.

Jerrmond Williams hit a two-out solo home run over the right field wall for Gordon State in the top of the first inning to give the Highlanders a 1-0 lead, but Wilson scattered four more hits the rest of the night in an impressive outing.

Wilson, a sophomore who played at Sonoraville High School, struck out ten, walked three, and threw first pitch strikes to 24 of the 35 batters he faced as he improved to 3-3 with his third complete game.

Georgia Highlands took the lead for good in the third inning scoring two runs on only one hit.

Zach Miller singled, reached second on an outfield error, and — after Parker Orr was hit by a pitch to load the bases — Bryson Horne was plunked with bases loaded to drive home Miller. Willis Kemp scored two pitches later on a wild pitch and GHC led 2-1.

The Chargers added one run in the fourth on a solo shot by Austin Foster and three more in the seventh on their way to a five run conference victory.

Skylar McPhee was the only Charger with two hits. He also drove in a run. Dane Bullock had two of the Highlanders’ five hits.

The loss drops Gordon to 19-16 on the year and 5-6 in conference play.

Georgia Highlands (24-11, 10-6) returns to Georgia Collegiate Athletic Association conference play Tuesday at South Georgia CC at 3 p.m. The Chargers will then host South Georgia for the final three games of the series with a single game Friday night at LakePoint and a doubleheader Saturday afternoon.

With a dozen regular season conference games remaining, Georgia Highlands is currently in third place in the GCAA standings behind East Georgia CC and South Georgia CC.