Canes open region play with win at Gilmer

A six-run fifth inning propelled the Cartersville Purple Hurricanes to an 8-1 Region 7-AAAA win over Gilmer in Ellijay Tuesday night. It was the region opener for both teams.

The Canes scored their fifth inning runs on an error, a three-run triple by Zach Yancey, an RBI double by Spencer Dickey, and a sacrifice fly by Jacob Fowler.

The offensive onslaught broke open a 1-0 game and gave Cartersville a 7-0 lead at the time.

The Bobcats (3-7 overall, 0-1 in 7-AAAA) scored their lone run in the bottom of the fifth, but the Canes got that run back the next inning on an RBI double by Cole Jamieson.

Freshman starter, Mason Barnett (5 IP, 1R, 0ER, 4H, 2BB, 4K) collected his third pitching victory of the year. Yancey (1 IP, 0R, 0BB, 2K) and Dickey (1 IP, 0R, 1H, 0BB) closed out the game in relief.

Cartersville (5-6, 1-0) pounded out ten hits in the contest. Carrington Evans (RBI), Parker Tidwell, and Jamieson (RBI) had two hits each for the Canes. Elliott Anderson (RBI), Fowler (RBI), Dickey (RBI), and Yancey (3 RBI) had the other Cartersville hits.

Drew Healan had two hits and one RBI for Gilmer. Noah Ralston, Avery Sirmans, and Chandler Sution had the other Bobcat hits.

The Canes are scheduled to host Northwest Whitfield Wednesday (March 23) and travel to Jasper to take on Pickens on Friday (March 25). Both games are scheduled for 5:55pm starts.