Bulloch Academy’s baseball team picked up where it left off Monday with a quick and efficient 10-0 win over Thomas Jefferson Academy at Gator Alley.
    Freshman pitcher Walker Blitch hurled five innings of hitless ball in the mercy-rule shutout. He faced just 19 batters. A late-breaking curve buckled the knees of many Jaguars, although he had just one strikeout.
    “Walker is not going to overpower guys,” said BA head baseball coach Daryl Evans. “He keeps the ball down, works the corners and throws strikes. Batters are going to pop it up or beat it into the ground. He threw the same way against Pinewood.”
    Prior to last week’s Spring Break, the Gators traveled to Stillmore on April 4 to battle Pinewood. Bulloch pounded Patriot pitching for 13 runs and, at one point, held a 13-0 lead early in the game. Eli Strickland was 3-for-3 while Win Lee was 4-for-5 in the slugfest. But the Gators couldn’t close the door and escaped with a 13-7 victory.
    “That was a great win,” said Evans. “I think the guys are starting to get comfortable with our system. Seventy percent of our hits today were on the backside. We want the guys to see it (the baseball) deep, be patient, trust your hands and let it go. It really showed its head against Pinewood.”
    Against the 4-5 Jaguars, Bulloch (9-4) got seven of its eight hits early as the Gators forced Thomas Jefferson starter Rob Swan from the mound after 22⁄3 innings.
    Bulloch took a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first.
    Matthew Sapp walked and Taylor Burke singled to left center. Matt Simons doubled into the gap to score Sapp while Burke raced home on Win Lee’s groundout to short.
But it was the third when the Gator offense clicked for six runs on five hits and two TJA errors.
    In the inning, 11 batters came to the plate as Burke netted two singles, Lee had an RBI single, Drew Cheshire plated two runners on a single and Ethan Lovett had a hit. Burke led the BA offense, going 3-for-3 with an RBI while Cheshire was 2-for-3 with three RBI.
    The Bulloch defense was again solid as the infielders scooped up any ball hit and made the play to first while the outfielders did their jobs.
    “The defense was sound, which is kind of a surprise because we only had one day of practice over Spring Break,” said Evans. “From day one, we’ve emphasized making the routine plays. Routine, routine, routine. If you make the routine play, you won’t have to make the great one to get out of an inning.”
    Bulloch took a 10-0 lead in the fourth when Lee drew a walk and came all the way around from first on a Jaguar throwing error, which left Jordan Walker at second. Cheshire doubled to center field to bring Walker home.
    The Gators face Region 2-AA foe Trinity Christian School in an important contest with playoff implications Friday. First pitch is slated for 4 p.m.