Cartersville falls to Grady County at 12U GRPA state tournament
The Cartersville 12U GRPA all star team fell to Grady County Friday night in the state semifinals to be eliminated from the state tournament at Paulson Park in Savannah.
Cartersville held as much as a 9-4 lead in the fourth inning, but Grady County rallied for six runs over the final three innings for a come-from-behind win.
Things started well for Cartersville.
JaKiyon Porter reached on an error, stole a base, and scored on a groundout to give Cartersville a 1-0 lead early.
Hunter Cochran was hit by a pitch to open the second inning, moved to second on a ground out, stole third base, and scored on a throwing error by the catcher to put Cartersville ahead 2-0.
Grady County scored on a solo home run to make it 2-1 in the bottom of the second before Cartersville added two more runs in the top of the third.
Gunner Millsap was hit by a pitch. Porter reached on an error and Giles Turner was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Noah Ford then doubled home a pair of runs to give Cartersville a 4-1 lead.
Grady County scored three runs in the bottom of the third on an error, a walk, and a pair of singles to tie the score 4-4. Cartersville then struck for five runs in the top of the fourth to regain the lead, 9-4.
Jackson Rutledge reached on an infield error, Tanner Wall singled, and Jonah Cooper doubled home a run. After Jack Chatman walked, Kaden Stephenson drove in two runs with a single and Chatman crossed the plate on an errant throw. Brody Tidwell then grounded out, driving home Stephenson for a 9-4 score.
Grady did not fold. They bounced right back with three runs in the bottom of the fourth to narrow the gap to 9-7. A single, a hit batsman, a walk, and a pair of stolen bases led to a three run inning for Grady County.
Cartersville went scoreless in the fifth and sixth innings, but held their two run advantage going to the bottom of the game’s final inning — the bottom of the sixth.
Grady County utilized two walks and a single to plate their first run of the inning that cut the lead to one. Then with two outs, a two-run double completed the comeback 10-9 final that eliminated Cartersville.
Both teams finished with seven hits and Grady County overcame six errors. Cartersville’s defense made only one error.
Grady County advances to the championship round to play Clayton County at 10am Saturday morning. Clayton needs only one win Saturday. Grady needs to win two games in the double-elimination tournament.
