Canes advance to Elite 8 with series sweep at Thomson
The Cartersville baseball team remained unbeaten in post-season play Wednesday night with a second round, playoff doubleheader sweep at Thomson.
The Canes took the opener, 13-3, and won the nightcap, 6-4.
Cartersville will travel to Buford for the quarterfinal round next week. Buford swept Bainbridge Wednesday, 15-0 and 16-2.
Elliott Anderson and Anthony Seigler tossed complete games for the two Hurricane victories.
Anderson struck out 13 and kept the Bulldogs off the board for the first six innings in Game 1 as the Canes built a 13-0 lead.
Seigler, in the second game, yielded only three earned runs on eight hits and three walks while striking out eight Bulldogs.
In the first game, Devin Warner drove in four runs with a homerun and a double for the Purple Hurricanes. Spencer Dickey also homered and Anderson helped himself by reaching base five times with a double, a single, and three walks.
In Game 2, Thomson took a 2-0 lead in the top of the second before Cartersville tied the game in the bottom of the frame.
Parker Tidwell and Dickey singled to start the Canes’ second inning. Cole Jamieson was then hit by a pitch to load the bases.
Tidwell scored on a sacrifice fly by Trevor Lowe and Dickey scored to tie the game, 2-2, on a wild pitch.
The Bulldogs regained the lead in the top of the third, 3-2, but Cartersville went back on top for good with a four-run bottom of the third.
Seigler lined a triple to right field and scored on an Anderson double. Carrington Evans followed with a single that moved Anderson to third. Tidwell then doubled to center field with both Anderson and Evans scoring.
After Tidwell moved up to third on a wild pitch, Dickey’s sacrifice fly drove home Tidwell and the Canes held a 6-3 advantage. Seigler, who worked the first six innings on the mound as a southpaw, switched to his right arm in the seventh.
Although Thomson loaded the bases with no outs on two walks and a single, Seigler limited the damage to a single run on a sacrifice fly by Cody Brown.
Seigler then induced a groundout and a popup to short to seal the 6-4 victory and complete the series sweep for the Hurricanes.
Seven Cartersville hitters finished the doubleheader with at least two hits. Anderson went 3-for-5 with two doubles, scored a run, and walked three times. Dickey was 2-for-3 with a home run, scored three times, and drove in a pair of runs.
Tidwell went 2-for-6 with a double, three runs scored and four RBI. Warner homered and doubled for four RBI and scored a run.
Seigler had two hits, including a triple, with two runs scored and one RBI. Evans was 2-for-6 with a double and scored two runs. Jamieson finished 2-for-5 with a double.
Jacob Fowler had a hit and scored two runs in the doubleheader. Noah Daniel drove in two runs with a hit and scored a run. Lowe drove in a run with a sacrifice fly.
Thomson’s season ends with a 21-9 mark.
Cartersville (19-11) advances to the Elite Eight quarterfinal round May 10 (doubleheader) and May 11 (if needed), to play at Buford (27-3) in a best-of-three series.
