Back 
WTG Knights !!
No secret tonic or magic formula has fueled Evans' 13-game winning streak.
Players and coaches say they are simply playing good baseball, the latest example coming on Friday against Dutchtown in the first round of the Georgia High School Association Class AAAA playoffs.
"We were playing them at completely the wrong time," Dutchtown coach Stephen Phillips said after his team was crushed 13-2 and 9-1 in the best-of-three series.
Evans will open a second-round series at home Wednesday against Glynn Academy, which stunned Lee County. Lee County was the top-ranked team in the state and carried a national ranking.
In its two wins over Dutchtown, Evans didn't commit an error, collected 29 hits and enjoyed two dominant performances from its starting pitchers.
Every batter reached based for the Knights at least once in both games, even though the state association's mercy rule shortened the first game to 41/2 innings. Given 30 minutes to regroup between games, Evans remained as dominant as it was in the opener. It led 7-0 after 11/2 innings of the second game.
"We were going to have to stay focused; we knew that," said outfielder Corey Holloway, who tripled and hit a home run in the second game.
Holloway said the team has been rejuvenated by new batting drills in practice. Evans has yet to score fewer than nine runs in any game of its winning streak. (Two wins were forfeits by Butler, which technically go down as 1-0 victories.)
Pitching with that kind of support is less complex, said Matt Blume, who won the first game to improve to 7-2.
"Just wanted to come out, throw strikes and get a lead," he said.
What Blume started, Michael Farr sustained. The junior allowed only two hits in six innings in the second game. The only Dutchtown run came when the Bulldogs led off the second inning with a home run.
"Both those guys were pitching ahead (in the count) all night," Evans coach Ricky Beale said.
Faced with the possibility of failing to play host to a playoff series for the second consecutive year -- the Knights were 5-4 on March 21 and started Region 3-AAAA play 2-2 -- Evans' winning streak has pushed it into position to potentially play the next two series at home. One thing's for sure: they will be at home in the second round in a quarter of the bracket that is suddenly missing the No. 1 team in the state.
"That's big; it sounds real nice," Blume said.
Reach Matt Middleton at (706) 823-3425 or matt.middleton@augustachronicle.com.
The Augusta Chronicle ©2012. All Rights Reserved.
