Trojan baseball sweeps its way to semis

Published 9:43 am Monday, May 19, 2025

John Milledge made the clock strike midnight on a baseball Cinderella Thursday.

Brookwood School had entered the GIAA Class AAA state playoff bracket as the 12th and final seed with a 9-17 record. The Warriors’ first-round matchup was against No. 5 Deerfield-Windsor, a team that had won their regular season meetings 11-1 and 9-0. DW continued its dominance over Brookwood in Game 1 of their playoff series, winning 10-0. The Warriors of Thomasville battled back to take the next two 9-6 and 10-8 to keep their season alive.

The magic continued early in the second round series at JMA Thursday as Brookwood broke out to a 4-0 lead in the second inning of Game 1. But the No. 4 Trojans kept their composure and turned the visitors’ carriage into a pumpkin, ending the Warriors’ short Cinderella run. John Milledge came back to take the series opener 7-5 then dominated Game 2 13-1 to get back to the state semifinals for the sixth consecutive season.

“We knew Brookwood was going to come in and be scrappy and give us a run for our money, especially in that first game,” JMA interim baseball coach Justin Mills said. “Our guys knew what to expect. We had a rough second inning, but what I’ve said about this team all year is that we’re so even-keeled. It doesn’t matter if we score 13 runs and are going to the Final Four or if we’re down four in the second inning. These guys have a good heartbeat for playoff baseball.”

As Mills said, that second inning in Game 1 against Brookwood did get dodgy. Down 1-0 after an RBI single, JMA starting pitcher Graysen Paradise got into further trouble with a hit batsman and a bunt single. The bases were full of Warriors with two outs when the batter rolled a slow groundball to Ayden Whidby at third. The Baldwin High transfer charged then threw to first on the run, but his toss was off the mark. That set a carousel in motion. Three runs wound up scoring on the play, placing the Trojans in a 4-0 hole.

The answer came in the bottom of the third when a trio of singles loaded the bags for senior right fielder Remington Weaver. He hit into a fielder’s choice that plated JMA’s first run, followed by a Bradyn Harrison two-out, two-RBI single down the left field line.

Next came a moment no one wants to see on a baseball diamond. With a runner on second, Paradise hit a fly ball into the no man’s land between second base and centerfield. The Brookwood second baseman and outfielder wound up colliding violently on the play. The second baseman was seen to on the field and ultimately taken off on a cart before visiting the local hospital for X-rays on his leg. Mills said a bad bone bruise was the diagnosis, not a serious fracture as the fear had first been.

The ball dropped to the ground on the fateful play and John Milledge scored to tie things up 4-4 before the inning ended. Nearly halfway through, it was a new ballgame.

Whidby had come on to relieve Paradise to start the third and was cruising. He was perfect in the third, fourth, and fifth, which was when the Trojans took their first lead. In his turn leading off the fifth, Whidby walked and came to third on a Weaver double to left. A wild pitch scored Whidby and an Asa Wall single laced to right put JMA ahead 6-4.

Whidby had another spotless frame in the sixth before the home team added its final run. He got into some trouble in the seventh when he surrendered his lone hit and walk. Up 7-4 with one out and two runners on, coach Mills went to the bullpen again and brought in senior Kolt McMichael to close things out. Brookwood added its fifth run on an error and had the go-ahead run at the plate with runners on second and third, but McMichael shut the door when he induced a swinging strikeout, bringing the game to its 7-5 final.

John Milledge’s even-keeled-ness was evident even when things got a little hairy late. It’s something that has served the team well so far.

“It’s their makeup,” said Mills. “We have a lot of guys whose heartbeats stay steady. Sometimes it can be aggravating as a coach, but most of the time I love it. The moment’s never too big and the moment’s never too small for them. Baseball is baseball. I enjoy coaching these guys.”

Despite scoring first again in Game 2, the writing was on the wall quickly for Brookwood. McMichael threw all five innings of the run-rule-shortened affair, giving up four hits and striking out four while walking three. He was able to keep his slate mostly clean thanks in part to some defensive wizardry out at second by junior Bryce McDonel. His glove was good all day, including on a diving catch to snag a line drive to his right early in the second game.

The Trojans plated three in the second to go up 3-1, then really poured it on in the third when they sent 13 hitters to the dish and scored nine more. Weaver smacked his third and fourth doubles of the day during that frame alone, striking the crane pose made famous in The Karate Kid movie franchise each time. He finished the second game with three RBI, and the team was further bolstered by multi-RBI performances from McMichael and catcher Will Adams.

John Milledge added one more in the fourth and held Brookwood scoreless in the fifth to end Game 2 early.

The 22-8 Trojans will look to maintain their steady pulse as they head into the semis at top-ranked Frederica Academy this weekend. The 19-5 Knights swept Tiftarea Saturday 11-7 and 9-3. The semifinalists saw one another back on April 3, a game the Knights took 3-1 on their home field. Mills said a couple of defensive mistakes on JMA’s part contributed to the narrow loss. They’ll see if those can be fixed so the team can compete for its third baseball state championship in four seasons against either Pinewood or Dominion Christian.

Game 1 in the JMA-Pinewood series is set for 6 p.m. Friday on St. Simons Island. Game 2 will be played at 1 p.m. Saturday with Game 3 to follow, if necessary.