Brooklet was the scene for a true pitcher's duel Wednesday night as Southeast Bulloch’s Terry Turner and ECI’s Lawson Mercer battled it out. In the end it was the Jackets coming out on top thanks to a no-hitter featuring 13 strikeouts by Turner who got some help from fellow senior Tyson Harnage with an RBI single in the sixth which proved to be the difference in the game.
“Terry was lights out tonight,” said Southeast Bulloch coach Brandon Peterson. “He stayed in the zone all night and they really only hit the ball hard once or twice all night. You can’t say enough about him as he pitched his guts out tonight.
“He was actually pitching on a little less rest than he usually does,” said Peterson. “We had a few guys lined up to go tonight but when something like that is going on you roll with it . He said he felt good and his pitch count was pretty low so we stayed with him.”
Playing the type of competition they get in their region, the Southeast Bulloch Yellow Jackets have had quite a few no-hitters. In fact, SEB no-hit Windsor Forest this week in a 23-0 win. Wednesday night was a different story with ECI coming to call.
The Bulldogs had Mercer on the mound and he threw a great game to match Turner pitch for pitch — almost. Mercer comes from an athletic family as his brother Peyton played tight end at the University of Georgia. Mercer was on his game Wednesday as well holding the Jackets to just one run on six hits with seven strikeouts.
Turner actually had a perfect game entering the top of the seventh. Three outs away from the rare feat Turner had a 1-1 count against the Bulldogs Bryce Kearson when an inside breaking ball was a little too close and hit Kearson on his shoulder.
The game then got interesting as the next batter laid down a sacrifice bunt and Kearson hustled all the way over to third. Turner was able to get the next batter to fly out to second and then struck out Jack Walden to end the game.
“It was a little different than any no hitter I have had before,” said Turner. “I really started thinking about it in the dugout around the fifth inning when no one would talk to me in the dugout and no one was sitting near me. It was a lot of fun and I’m glad we got the run and won the game. It would have been nice to get the perfect game but again I’m just glad we won.”
The Jackets went into the bottom of the sixth inning with only three hits themselves. Southeast Bulloch managed to double that number with three hits in the frame.
Walker Dickerson singled to left and then moved to second on a flare to right by Nick Anderson that dropped for a single. The next batter struck out followed by Harnage who drove a two-out single down the line in left. Dickerson slid in just under the tag for the only run of the game.
“We had a couple chances and need to do a better job of bringing in runners in scoring position,” said Peterson. “I’m proud of the way our guys played in the field all night and we were able to string together a few hits to get the game winner in there in the sixth.”
The Yellow Jackets improve to 3-3 on the season and will host Windsor Forest Thursday at 4:30 p.m.
