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By ANDREW SIMONSON | Sports Editor

The Vincent Yellow Jackets continued their dominant start to the season with victories over the Childersburg Tigers and Louisiana’s Archbishop Hannan Hawks on Saturday, Feb. 24 at home.

They then improved to 7-0 on the year with a win over the Altamont Knights on Monday, Feb. 26 at The Altamont School.

The Jackets ended the weekend with a 16-6 win over the Knights as they overcame an early deficit to take the victory.

After the first two Vincent batters reached base, the Jackets suffered a pair of outs but held strong to get on the scoreboard. Ray Albright hit a two-run single to give the visitors a 2-0 lead after the top of the first.

However, the first two Altamont batters were hit by pitches, opening up an opportunity for the hosts to score the first run of the game on a walk.

A two-run double gave the Knights a 3-2 lead, and they extended their lead to two runs on a fielder’s choice two batters later.

However, Altamont had its own problems issuing walks in the top of the second, and after the bases were loaded with one out thanks to three walks, the Jackets made their move.

An RBI single by Camden Cobb tied up the game at 4-4, and Aiden Poe tripled to left to clear the bases and score two more runs, giving Vincent a 6-4 lead.

Four walks in the bottom of the second led to another Knights run, but that was as close as they’d get as the Jackets kept piling on run after run.

Ethan McEllrath and Cobb each hit RBI singles in the top of the third to score three runs and increase the lead to 9-5.

The top of the fourth yielded even more offense as a single and a double to start the inning led to an RBI sacrifice fly by Albright, an RBI double by McEllrath and an RBI single on Mattson Davis on three straight plays, making the score 12-5.

Altamont got a run back in the bottom of the frame thanks to an error, but Calvin Johnson scored two more runs for the Jackets on an RBI double in the top of the fifth.

Vincent closed out the scoring with an RBI groundout by Cobb and an RBI single by Poe in the top of the sixth to make the final score 16-6 thanks to the run rule.

Two days prior, the Jackets swept a doubleheader at home against Childersburg and Hannan.

In the first game against the Tigers, Vincent got on the scoreboard with three runs in the bottom of the second with an RBI single by Davis and a two-run single by Casen Fields to take a 3-0 lead.

Childersburg responded with an RBI triple in the top of the third to cut the deficit to two runs, but the Jackets restored their three-run advantage in the bottom of the frame as Poe crossed home plate during the inning-ending double play.

After a walk and a single in the first two at-bats of the bottom of the fourth, Davis scored on a passed ball and Grayson Gulde hit an RBI single to make the score 6-1. Poe’s RBI sacrifice fly and Aiden Gaseway added two more runs to increase the lead to seven.

The Tigers scored three runs in the top of the fifth after bringing runs home on a groundout double play and two errors.

Gaseway closed out the scoring for the Jackets in the bottom of the sixth with an RBI single. While Childersburg scored again on an RBI single in the top of the seventh, Vincent secured the final two outs to earn the 9-5 win.

Gulde earned the win with five strikeouts in five innings. He allowed three hits, four runs with two of them earned and three walks. Johnson took home the save behind three strikeouts in three innings against three hits and one earned run.

On offense, Cobb went 3-4 with two runs to lead the way in the victory.

Vincent then closed out the day with a big 5-3 win over Hannan from Louisiana.

The first four innings were a pitcher’s duel as neither team got on the scoreboard. However, the Hawks struck first in the top of the fifth with a two-out RBI single to take a 1-0 lead.

The Jackets responded in a big way by taking advantage of scoring opportunities in the bottom of the frame.

After a pair of walks to start the half-inning, an error let Gaseway and Archer score to take a 2-1 lead. Davis then hit a single to pave the way for Fields to hit a two-run double, extending the Vincent lead to three.

Cobb hit a sacrifice fly two outs later to make the score 5-1 at the end of the inning and put the pressure on Hannan.

The Hawks answered in the top of the sixth with a pair of runs on the final two at-bats of the visiting half of the inning. However, they couldn’t get closer than that and the Jackets earned the 5-3 lead.

Poe pitched a complete game and earned 10 strikeouts in the process. He allowed three earned runs and 10 hits against no walks.

Vincent will return on Thursday, Feb. 29 against the Leeds Green Wave at home at 4:30 p.m. in search of a season series sweep.