Chargers halted by Cavaliers in second round
Three Darton State pitchers combined to scatter six Georgia Highlands’ hits as the top-seeded Cavaliers defeated the Chargers Thursday afternoon in Albany in second round action at the Georgia Collegiate Athletic Association tournament.
Darton starting pitcher, Jeremy Beasley, completed seven innings to earn the pitching victory. Beasley allowed six hits and a walk, but only one run. He struck out seven. Rabon Martin and Brad Cammack worked a scoreless eighth and ninth on the mound for the Cavaliers and combined for three strikeouts.
Georgia Highlands took a 1-0 lead in the top of the second when Drew Davis and Mitch Burger connected with back-to-back, two-out doubles.
Darton State captured the lead for good, however, with a pair of runs in the bottom of the third inning and scored single runs in the fifth through eighth frames for a 6-1 final.
The Cavaliers rapped out 13 hits in the contest.
Leadoff hitter Kendall Herron finished with three hits for Darton State. John Cable, Tyler Morris, and Michael Huggins had two hits each for the Cavs. Cody Ilgenfritz hit a leadoff homer in the sixth inning and drove in another run with a sacrifice in the seventh inning.
Besides the two early doubles, the Chargers managed only four more hits. Devin Bilardello, Daniel Gooden, Brandon Etheridge, and Brandon Bell had one hit apiece.
Sam Sowerbrower (6 IP, 4ER, 11H, 4BB, 5K) was tagged with the pitching loss for GHC. Chris Morton (1 IP, 2ER, 2H, 2BB, 1K) and Dalton Isley (1 IP, 0R, 0H, 0BB) pitched the seventh and eighth innings, respectively.
Darton State (38-18) advances to play the winner between East Georgia State and second-seeded South Georgia State on Friday at noon. Georgia Highlands (28-30) must now battle through the loser’s bracket. The Chargers will play the East Georgia State/South Georgia State loser in an elimination game Thursday night at 7pm.
The GCAA/NJCAA District XVII Championship Tournament continues at Darton State in Albany with the title game Saturday at noon.
