Canes, Colonels, Wildcats all pick up diamond wins
The baseball teams at Cartersville, Cass, and Woodland High Schools each won games on the road Tuesday.
The Wildcats defeated Armuchee in five innings, while the Canes and Colonels each won one-run games against state-ranked opponents.
WOODLAND 13, ARMUCHEE 1 (5 innings)
Woodland scored in every frame after the first and posted 13 runs on eight hits in a five inning win Tuesday at Armuchee.
The Wildcats also took advantage of three Indians’ errors and nine walks.
Kenny Jinks (4 IP, 1ER, 4H, 6K, 2BB) was the winning pitcher for Woodland. Garrett Pope (1 IP, 0R, 1H, 0BB, 2K) closed out the fifth inning.
Woodland took an 8-0 lead in the top of the third inning and later added a run in the fourth and four more in the fifth inning for a mercy-rule win.
Trenton Harrison (2-for-4, 3RBIs), Jacob Frye (2-for-3, 3RBIs), and Garrett Cornett (1-for-4, 2RBIs) combined for five hits and eight RBIs at the top of the Wildcats’ batting order. Harrison and Bryce Evans hit homeruns.
Bryce Evans drove in two runs with a hit. Koby Stancil had a hit and RBI and Brycen Kellet had the other Woodland hit. Jordan Lee and Dylan Webb, who drew three walks, added one RBI each.
Armuchee fell to 0-2 with the loss.
Woodland (2-0) plays at Adairsville Friday.
CASS 2, No. 9 ROCKMART 1
Cass pitchers Cody Johnson, Jake Collum, and Zach Yancey combined on a two-hitter Tuesday at 9th-ranked (Class AA) Rockmart to edge the Yellow Jackets 2-1 in the Colonels’ season opener.
Rockmart opened the scoring with a run in the bottom of the second inning, but Cass tied the game in the fourth.
Nathan Smith hit a sacrifice fly to left that scored Bailey Campbell. Campbell had doubled to lead off the inning.
Cass got the go-ahead and eventual winning run in the top of the sixth.
Johnson doubled with one out, moved to third on a wild pitch, and scored on an infield error off the bat of Yancey.
Yancey (2 IP, 0R, 0H, 3BB, 1K) pitched the final two innings to earn the pitching victory for the Colonels. Collum (2 IP, 0R, 0H, 0BB, 5K) worked the middle innings in relief for Cass. Johnson (3 IP, 1ER, 2H, 3BB) started on the mound.
Kole Holder (5.2 IP, 2ER, 5H, 2BB, 8K) was saddled with the tough loss for Rockmart.
Jac Culver and Holder had the only hits for the Yellow Jackets.
Campbell, Johnson, Yancey, Tyler Hendon, and Bryson Markley had hits for Cass.
The Colonels (1-0) host Gilmer Wedneday at 5:55pm and play at Adairsville Saturday at 1pm.
No. 5 CARTERSVILLE 4, No. 8 JOHNS CREEK 3
The 5th-ranked (Class 4A) Canes won an impressive season opener Tuesday night at 8th-ranked (Class 6A) Johns Creek to begin the 2017 campaign on a winning note.
Anthony Seigler played an important role on the mound and at the plate as the Hurricanes edged the Gladiators, 4-3.
Seigler lined a homerun over the wall in left field for a 1-0 lead in top of first inning, but
Johns Creek answered with a run in the third inning and another in the fourth to go up 2-1.
Cartersville responded with two more runs in the fifth to retake the lead 3-2 and added another run in the sixth.
Devin Warner had a two-run double in the fifth for the Canes. Jacob Fowler walked and later scored on a Jake Gooch sacrifice fly in the sixth to give Cartersville a 4-2 lead.
A Canes’ miscue led to a Johns Creek run in the bottom of the sixth to cut the Canes’ lead to 4-3, but Seigler took the mound and kept the Gladiators off the board in the seventh for a Canes’ one-run win.
Seigler (3 IP, 0R, 1H, 0BB, 5K), J.P. Martin (1.1 IP, 1ER, 1H, 1BB, 3K), and Spencer Dickey (2.2 IP, 0ER, 0H, 1BB, 2K) combined on the mound and worked around five Cartersville errors.
Johns Creek used four different pitchers.
Seigler finished 2-for-3 at the plate with one RBI and two runs scored. Devin Warner had two RBIs with a double.. Noah Daniel and Tee Webb had the other Canes’ hits.
Cartersville (1-0) hosts Mill Creek at 12 noon and Marist at 2:30pm Saturday at Richard Bell Field in Atco. Mill Creek is ranked No. 5 in Class 7A and Marist is No. 8 in 4A
