Bartow 9-year-old Dizzy Dean team is district runner-up

The 9-year-old Dizzy Dean baseball Georgia District 2 championship at New Georgia ball park in Paulding County came down to a third and deciding game between Bartow County and the Kennesaw Generals Tuesday night, (June 23). Kennesaw won the first meeting between the two teams Sunday, 13-10, when they met as the only unbeaten teams in the double-elimination tournament. Bartow worked their way back to the championship round by routing Powder Springs and then forced a third game with the Generals by beating them 18-5 Monday night.

On Tuesday, it was Kennesaw who won the rubber game and the district title, with a 15-5 victory.

Kennesaw took a four run lead in the top of the first, but Bartow quickly responded with a pair of runs in the bottom of the frame. Bartow's Rylan Lewallen led off the inning with a single and later scored on Zach Weaver's triple. Landon Cole later drove home Weaver with a ground out. Kennesaw added five more runs in the second and another four runs in the third to build a commanding 13-2 lead heading into the fourth. Aiden Cottinghim led off the Bartow fourth with a single and Layton Sanford walked. After Ryan Johnson and Matt Scoggins reached on errors, Lewallen doubled to account for Bartow's final runs. Kennesaw closed out the game with a pair of runs in the bottom of the inning. Next for the Bartow 9-year-old team is the Dizzy Dean State Tournament hosted by North Cherokee beginning July 3.