The weekend couldn’t start out better for the Garnet team, who rode timely hitting and clutch pitching to take a 1-0 lead in the Garnet and Black World Series.

Garnet took the edge in the series behind a dominant performance from starting pitcher Clarke Schmidt, who stitched together 4.2 innings, giving up one run on two hits. He walked and struck out three.

He started shaky, giving up a leadoff single to TJ Hopkins, who used a stolen base and back-to-back groundouts to score and give the Black team a 1-0 lead.

John Jones put the Garnet team on the board in the third. After a Madison Stokes leadoff double, he laced a one-out single into the outfield to drive him home. Schmidt would settle in after the first inning, not allowing a hit again until the fifth.

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The junior was pulled with two outs in the fifth inning after giving up a walk to load the bases. Freshman T.J. Shook relieved him, striking out LT Tolbert to end the inning and keep the score knotted at one run apiece.

For the Black team, the fifth inning was nightmarish, and it saw seven different hitters at the plate and five different base runners. It started on a Stokes single before Alex Destino and Jones both walked, loading the bases.

Dillon Hodge, who came in for Crowe, was pulled after that and Brandon Murray came out of the bullpen. He induced a Hunter Taylor fielder’s choice before Chase DeMars walked to plate Destino and give the Garnet team a 2-1 lead.

The Black team would try and strike back in the sixth inning, however. Hitting against pitcher Colie Bowers, Chris Cullen started the inning with a single before moving to second on a one-out walk.

Jacob Olson flew out to left for the second out, and with two on and two outs, Bowers got Ross Grosvenor to whiff on a pitch, striking him out to end the inning. He left the game after a vigorous Tiger-Woods-like fist pump and a shout into his glove.

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Garnet team captain and lefty closer Josh Reagan came in for the save in the seventh. He gave up a one out single to Christian Flint before getting Hopkins to ground into a 6-4-3 double play to clinch the 2-1 victory.

Crowe and Schmidt both looked like they did all fall: dominant. The two were both low-to-mid 90s on their fastballs and Crowe threw an effective curveball, confusing hitters on his way to three strikeouts.

The victory moves the Garnet team one win away from the Series victory, needing a win either Saturday or Sunday to clinch. Saturday’s game starts at 11 a.m. with Sunday’s at 7 p.m. Both games at Founders Park are free and open to the public.

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Starting lineups

CF, Hopkins; SS, Tolbert; C, Cullen; LF, Carlos Cortes; 3B, Jonah Bride; RF, Jacob Olson; 1B, Ross Grosvenor; DH, Jake Wright; 2B, Christian Flint; SP, Wil Crowe

Garnet CF, Danny Blair; 3B, Matt Williams; SS, Madison Stokes; LF, Alex Destino; C, John Jones; RF, Hunter Taylor; 2B, Chase DeMars; 1B, Riley Hogan; DH, Josh Gregory

Pitching lines

Black

Wil Crowe: 3.1 IP, 4 H, 1 R (ER), 2 BB, 3 K, 1 WP

Dillon Hodge: .2 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 2 BB, 0 K

Brandon Murray: 1.2 IP, 1 H, 1 R (ER), 1 BB, 2 K

Garnet

Clarke Schmidt: 4.2 IP, 2 H, 1 R (ER), 3 BB, 3 K

WP (1-0) T.J. Shook: .1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K

Colie Bowers: 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 K

SV (1) Josh Reagan: 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K