The Bainbridge High School Bearcats won an 8-0 shutout victory Thursday evening, against the Monroe High School Tornadoes, in Albany, Ga.

“We absolutely dominated the game from start to finish,” Bainbridge coach Jamie Ard said. “I was pleased that we were able to bounce back from a disappointing loss earlier in the week at home, with this victory.”

Bainbridge got the scoring started early when Michael Moran followed up on a deflected shot by Garvis Kelly, and scored in the third minute of the game.
Jay Castro, a freshman, scored his first varsity goal in the 16th minute, when he beat several Monroe defenders and put the ball in the back of the net.

Luis Mejia scored a goal in the 20th minute, off an assist from Carlos Becerra. In the 48th minute, Mejia again found himself open for a shot and capitalized to increase the lead to 4-0.

In the 50th minute, Jesus Contreras, another Bainbridge freshman, took a pass from Mejia to score the fifth goal. Senior Giovanni Gabino scored his first career varsity goal in the 58th minute, with an assist from Becerra.

Mejia scored his third goal of the game in the 64th minute, increasing the Bearcats’ lead to 7-0. In the 71st minute, Daniel Provence scored a goal to cap the scoring.

“We were still not at full strength [Thursday night],” Ard said. “A positive to that, though, is that we are developing some depth within the squad, because we are being forced to play some younger guys because of injuries and other issues keeping some of our regular starters from playing.”

Bainbridge was scheduled to play at Thomasville on Saturday, but that game was rained out. The Bearcats were scheduled to play at Thomas County Central on Tuesday evening.

Bainbridge’s next game is Friday against Hardaway, at Centennial Field. The boys will play at 7:30 p.m., and the Lady Cats’ game is at 5:30 p.m.