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The Grace Christian Academy Cougars traveled to Dawson, Georgia to face the (4-1) Terrell Academy Eagles last weekend and nearly rallied back in a 5-4 loss, scoring two runs in the top of the sixth and one run in the seventh. 

The Cougars fell behind early after two innings trailing 5-1 but in the third inning, No. 8 Aiden Whittaker was spectacular on the mound going 4.0 innings of no-hit baseball, striking out nine of 

the 12 batters he faced in the process. 

“Aiden basically kept us in that game,” Nathan Nunez, GCA baseball coach said. “As a team, we managed to put the bat on the ball and took advantage of hitters’ counts.”

No. 9 Landon Temples hit a ground ball with two outs in the second inning on a 2-0 count that scored No. 99 Nolan Smith from third base after he singled on a hard ground ball to left field and advanced to second base. 

Trailing 5-1 going into the top of the sixth inning with No. 12 Oathen Atkinson advancing to second base on a wild pitch, Whittaker on a 2-0 count hit his first home run of the season to left field that cut the lead to two. 

With one out in the top of the seventh inning, first baseman No. 13 Hines Roberts hit a fly ball to right field and Temples would tag up from third base to cut the deficit to one run. 

Now with Nunez having his group at full-strength the energy of his group is slowly progressing and being showcased by his captains on the diamond.

The Cougars’ last two opponents were 4A District three Brookwood and Terrell Academy, that level and jump in competition should pay back dividends as GCA begins region action this Tuesday and Thursday against Westwood beginning at 4:00 p.m., a stretch of three games against the Wildcats within the next seven days. 

“I think it’s beneficial for us to play higher-level competition because when it comes to the playoffs,” Nunez said. “Those pressure situations begin in March understanding the talent level to deliver down the stretch in April and May.”