BUFORD - Pike County ended Buford's string of postseason wins with a 10-3 victory in Game 1 of the Class AA state championship series, but the Wolves forced a Game 3 with a 14-4, six-inning win in Game 2 on Saturday night in front of the home crowd.
The deciding game will be Monday at 4 p.m. in Buford. The Wolves (30-4) won a coin toss following Game 2 and earned home-field advantage and will send 6-foot-4 senior right hander Josh Heddinger, a Georgia Tech signee, to the mound for Game 3.
The Pirates (31-7), will send out senior right hander Lance Shelton.
Buford came in to Saturday having won their first eight playoff games, sweeping through Fannin County, defending state champs Calhoun, Pierce County and Appling County.
But the Wolves had no answer for Game 1 starter Kody Adams, a senior left-hander whose command and pitch selection kept the Buford offense on its toes the entire contest.
Adams went six innings, striking out eight while giving up three runs on five hits, five walks and a hit batter.
"I knew it was my game, and threw it like I knew I was going to win," Adams said. "I hit my spots well, stayed in my area and kept them off balance with a good breaking pitch and did my thing."
Offensively, the Pirates tagged Wolves starter Sam Clay for six runs through five innings, and later reliever Troy Herterick for four more in the seventh.
They were led by senior catcher Chris Long, who hit two towering home runs totaling five RBIs.
"We came out ready," said Long, who relieved Adams on the mound to close out the seventh. "We put hits together, got a couple runs here and there and just kept on getting ‘em. That's all you can do really."
Of the six runs off Clay, who took the loss, only three were earned. Battling a sore elbow, he allowed seven hits, struck out two, walked three and hit two batters in 4 1/3 innings.
Junior right hander Avery LaBuz pitched 1 2/3 innings of scoreless relief, striking out one and walking two, and Herterick allowed four runs off four hits in one inning.
In the parallel universe that was Game 2, it was Wolves senior right hander Jake Burnette, also a Georgia Tech signee, who shut down the Pirates.
He pitched all six innings, allowing four runs on eight hits, a walk and a hit batter while striking out eight.
"I knew this was the last game I was going to pitch, being a senior," Burnette said. "I just wanted to give it my all and be aggressive. I didn't want to be tentative and scared and let people get a hold of me.
"The run support gave me a lot of confidence."
Playing as the away team, the Wolves opened with four runs in the top of the first on three hits following an error.
They played long ball after that, with homers by Brian Clark (second inning), Heddinger (third inning), James Nix (third inning), Adam Hampton (fourth inning) and Herterick (fifth inning).
Herterick's was a three-run shot that gave Buford a 12-3 lead.
Hampton, whose interaction with the Pike County crowd at various points in the game earned him boos from the visiting side, said he and the Wolves took the second game in stride.
"It was that feeling of having our backs against the wall, and we weren't going to go out like that," said Hampton, a senior center fielder. "I think we were a little rattled after the first game. After (Long's homers), we got down on ourselves and you could probably tell, but it's all about how we finished it."
Junior left hander Drew Watkins took the loss for the Pirates, allowing six runs (two earned), on six hits and two walks, while striking out two.
Junior right hander Nate Ferrell finished the game, pitching five innings and allowing eight runs on seven hits while striking out two and walking three.
It's now a one game series, and the Wolves' fate rests on the arm of Heddinger to beat the Pirates, who eliminated Buford from the postseason last year in the second round.
"I've just got to go get ‘em," Heddinger said. "I saw in both games they can come out and hit the ball, so I've just got to do what I do and hit my spots. That's the big thing. I cannot leave pitches up. If I leave them up, they're going to kill me."
Pirates coach Don Hanson said he's confident in Shelton, the Game 3 winner against Blessed Trinity in the quarterfinals, and Lovett in the semifinals.
"He's been in that pressure situation before," Hanson said. "I feel good about Shelton being on the mound. If there's a guy I want to hand the ball to after my first two pitchers, it's him."
Hanson and Buford coach Tony Wolfe said winning pitchers Adams and Burnette could be available for Game 3. Adams threw 115 pitches and Burnette threw 96.