Mason Eakes picked up a new nickname entering the Southeast Region after a fishing mishap with teammate Jackson White. His teammates have affectionately been calling him “bait” after Mr. White hooked Mason in the head with a fishhook sending the star pitcher to the ER to be checked out prior to the team leaving for the regional. Eakes has embraced the name and if you caught tonight’s game versus a strong Virginia team, you witnessed Mason doing his fish bait celebration on second base after breaking a closely contested game wide open with a double to deep left field clearing the bases giving Goodlettsville a much more comfortable 4 run lead in the seventh inning leading his teammates to an eventual 11-2 victory.
Eakes has been a cornerstone piece for the team helping anchor the pitching staff with Armando “El Toro’ DeDios and now the hard-throwing right-hander is doing damage with the bat as has been on display in the team’s first two games driving in four big runs in two games. The team is now two wins from a regional championship as they prepare to face Florida Sunday in the winner’s bracket final at 2pm.
Johnny Cuthill led Goodlettsville on offense with two hits followed by Jackson White, Armando DeDios, Jayden Lee, Tyler Campbell, Mason Eakes, Jeremiah Paye and Ace Eschenburg had one hit each with Eschenburg hitting a mammoth homerun in the seventh adding to the teams nine-run seventh inning total.
Mason Eakes, Johnny Cuthill and Armando DeDios combined to limit Virginia to three hits and one earned run in seven innings of play combining for ten strikeouts.
Virginia will play Georgia tomorrow while Goodlettsville gets the day off and will face Florida Sunday.