The Lumpkin County Indians traveled to Norcross to face off with a regional opponent, the Wesleyan Wolves for game one of a doubleheader. The winner of the three-game series would take second place in the 7AAA region and have the home-field advantage to start the playoffs. Fans, players, umpires, coaches, parents, and more were in it for the long haul as game one started playing around 4:40 PM and did not end until roughly 8:10 PM, a three and half hour game. The contest saw 34 runs and 28 hits between the two teams, along with a combined 6 home runs. The Indians would come out on top when everything was all said and done, beating the Wolves 20-14.

The Wolves went with Forrest Lietz to start the game and met with a lead-off double off the bat of Harper Davenport. Alejandro Narvaez advances Davenport in the next at-bat, legging out a bunt for an infield single. Lietz would strike out the next two batters before giving up two walks and two runs to give the Indians the early 2-0 lead. Lietz would get the inning-ending strikeout of DH Mason Hester to end the frame, sending the Wolves bats to the plate already trailing in the game. Davenport got the start for the Indians, striking out two and walking one for a scoreless bottom of the first. 

Lietz got his pitches working in the top of the second, while he did walk two, he struck out two and picked off a runner to get through the inning unscathed. Lietz led off the bottom of the second and helped his cause with a single. The Wolves got their first chance to score in the inning with runners on second and third with two outs and Townes Hardy at the plate. Hardy ripped a single to left field to bring home both runners, tying the game at two. Hardy would be brought home in the next at-bat thanks to an RBI single off the bat of Schley Gordy to give the Wolves the 3-2 lead. Grayson McCollum capped off the inning with a 2-run home run to dead center field, extending the lead 5-2.

Lietz made quick work of the Indians in the top of the third, striking out the side, bringing his K total to seven on the day. Davenport got into a bases-loaded jam in the bottom of the third after hitting the first batter and walking the next two to bring Reed Purcell to the plate with no outs. Purcell hit a flyball to right to bring home the runner from third, extending the lead to 6-2. Will Hillegas came to bat and was hit by the pitch to reload the bases. Another run would come in on a wild pitch by Davenport, to give the Wolves a 7-2 lead before he got out of the inning. 

The Indian’s offense exploded in the top of the fourth, sending fourteen to the plate. The inning started with back-to-back walks to Hester and Dakota Bennet. After recording the first out, Lietz struck out Tyler Boggs but Boggs would reach as the third strike was dropped and Boggs ran it out to load the bases. Davenport kept the line moving in the next at-bat, lining a single to center to bring home a run to cut the deficit to 7-3. The Wolves elected to bring in McCollum to face Narvaez ending the day for starter Lietz. Narvaez cleared the bases with a double to left-center field, racking up three RBIs and making the score 7-6. McCollum would go on to walk Cooper Scott and Peyton Wood to reload the bases for Adian Rogers who hit a single to tie the game at 7. Hayden Gilbert stepped to the plate and hit a single to centerfield scoring two to give the Indians the 9-7 lead. Rogers was thrown out trying to advance to third on the hit to give the Wolves the second out. Hester would draw a walk in the next at-bat followed by an infield single by Bennet to load the bases for the fifth time in the inning. Boggs hit a double to center field to bring home two more runs, capping off the Indians nine run inning. McCollum would get Davenport to ground out to second to finally end the frame. With the 11-7 lead, the Indians put Davenport back on the mound for the bottom of the fourth. Davenport would have a good frame, striking out only allowing one hit to send the game to the fifth inning. 

The runs continued to come in the top of the fifth for Lumpkin, Narvaez led off the inning with a base hit and was brought home on a homerun to dead center by Scott making the score 13-7. McCollum got the next two batters out in order, picking up his first strikeout of the game. McCollum could not get the final out after hitting Gilbert and allowing a single to Hester. The Wolves turned to Shawn Simmons to stop the damage but was met with a no-doubter off the bat of Bennet who admired the ball as it left the field, extending the lead to 16-7. Simmons gave up two more runs in the frame, an RBI double by Davenport and an RBI single by Narvaez to extend the Indian’s lead to 18-7. Simmons finally ended the frame, getting Scott to fly out. Lietz led off the bottom of the fifth for Wesleyan and drew a walk to bring Dominick Scalese to the dish. Scalese hit a shot to right-center field that left the yard to bring in two runs, making the score 18-9. After giving up a walk and a single, Coach Zaideman went to Cooper Scott to take over on the mound. Gordy hit the Wolves third home run of the contest in the next at-bat, bringing in three runs and making the score 18-12. Scott would get the next two batters out to send the game to the sixth inning. 

Eli Hewiston came on to pitch the top of the sixth and hit the first batter he faced, followed by a single off the bat of Rogers. Hewiston struck out Gilbert before allowing an infield single to Hester to load the bases for Bennet. Rogers would tack on another run, scoring on a wild pitch to make the score 19-12. Hewiston settled in and got the next two batters out to send the game to the bottom of the sixth. Scott came back to pitch the bottom of the sixth and got the first two Wolves out on balls in play. Scalese stepped to the plate and hit his second home run of the game and his third RBI to make the score 19-13. Scott would get Purcell to fly out to right to end the inning. 

Hewistion came back to pitch the seventh, allowing one more run before getting the final out, making the score 20-13. Owen Hodges pinched hit to lead off the bottom of the seventh and hit a lead-off double. Hardy moved Hodges to third, bringing Gordy to the plate. Gordy hit a single to left to bring home Hodges, but Hardy would be thrown out trying to advance to third. Scott got McCollum to fly out to right for the second out, bringing Joseph Laurite to the dish. Laurite legged out an infield single followed by a base on balls to Bo Britt to load the bases for Lietz. Lietz hit a deep ball to center but was playable for Davenport to finally end the game. The Indians hang on to win the slugfest against the Wolves with a final score of 20-14.

The Indians go on to play the Wolves in game two of the doubleheader later that evening looking to lock down second place in the region (subsequent article to follow)