From staff reports

There was no shortage of offense as the Bremen High School baseball team opened the Class A state playoffs at home Friday night.

The Blue Devils used their bats to run-rule Athens Academy in both games and completed the sweep of the best-of-three series. Bremen won 18-8 in six innings in Game 1 and captured a 14-2 victory in five innings in Game 2.

Bremen, the No. 1 seed from Region 6-A, will host Providence Christian in a second-round series beginning Wednesday.

The sweep avenges a pair of playoff losses Bremen (20-2) suffered to Athens Academy in recent years. Athens Academy (14-11) won a second-round series in Bremen in 2004 and captured a first-round series in three games the following year at home.

The Blue Devils trailed 2-0 early on in the first game, but Bremen busted open a tight game by scoring eight runs in the third inning.

“I didn’t know what to expect from them, but our kids came out and just really swung the bat well,” Bremen coach Mark Clark said.

Jim Mauk picked up the win on the mound for Bremen in the opener, giving up six earned runs on nine hits while walking five and fanning two.

Leading the Blue Devils at the plate were Brett Wright (3-for-4, HR, 2 doubles, 4 RBI), Gary Perkins (3-for-4, 2 doubles, 2 RBI), Kail Singleton (2-for-2, 2 doubles, 2 RBI) and Mauk (2-for-4, 2 RBI).

Clark has stressed playing good defense all season long and he said with the exception of the fifth inning, the Blue Devils played a clean game in the field.

“We were up by 11 runs and all we had to do was get them out in the fifth inning,” Clark said. “We messed around and they scored five runs in the inning to make it 14-8.”

With 18 runs eventually going up on the board, though, the Blue Devils could afford a few defensive miscues.

In Game 2, Bremen batted at the top of the inning and jumped out to a quick 4-0 lead in the first.

Jay Wade tossed a complete game for the Blue Devils, allowing two earned runs on four hits. He walked seven and struck out nine.

From an offensive standpoint, Cal Hardie (3-for-3, RBI), Mauk (3-for-4, 2 doubles, 4 RBI), Perkins (2-for-4, 2 doubles, 3 RBI), Singleton (2-for-3, double, RBI) and Grady Bell (2-for-3, RBI) led Bremen.

Providence Christian, the No. 2 seed from Region 5-A, advanced to the second round with a two-game sweep of Monticello. The Stars (22-5-1) won the first game, 4-2, and the second game, 13-1.