Bartow Junior Little League 14U, Cartersville Little League 12U topped in state tourney openers
A pair of local Little League baseball teams lost their opening games of state tournaments Saturday. The Bartow County Junior Little League 14U team fell to West Point 5-1 in Athens while Cartersville Little League's 12U all-stars lost to Peachtree City 11-3 in Smyrna.
Bartow County Junior Little League lines up for state tournament pregame introductions in Athens. Photo courtesy East Athens Little League Baseball.
Bartow County Junior Little League (13-14 year olds) dropped its opening game at the Georgia Little League State Tournament Saturday morning in Athens.
The locals took a brief lead, but fell 5-1 to West Point Junior Little League in both teams’ state tournament opening game.
Bartow County scored its only run of the game and took a brief lead in the top of the first inning. Patrick Shelley reached on a walk and scored following a single by Colton Wilson and a fielder’s choice grounder by Brice Craig.
Bartow moved baserunners to third in the second and fourth innings, but were unable to push another run across.
West Point out hit Bartow County seven to three in the contest and took the lead for good with a pair of runs in the bottom of the first inning. They added two more runs in the fourth inning and an insurance run in the sixth for a 5-1 final.
Shelley started on the mound for Bartow and was tagged with the loss. Plank picked up the pitching win for West Point.
Bartow Junior Little League slips to the loser’s bracket in the double-elimination tournament and will play an elimination game Monday night at 6 p.m. against either Elbert County or host Athens.
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Bartow County Junior Little League roster: Eli Agnew, Harrison Benton, Brandon Carroll, Brice Craig, Wade Dooley, Devin Payne, Charlie Ray, Patrick Shelley, Tifton Watkins, and Colton Wilson.
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Georgia Junior Little League State Tournament schedule/results:
Double-elimination at Athens Little League
Sat. July 14 — West Point 5, Bartow County 1
Sat. July 14 — Athens 16, Northern-Columbus 12
GM 3 — Sun. July 15 — 1 pm — Vine Ingle vs. West Point
GM 4 — Sun. July 15 — 3 pm — Athens vs. Elbert County
GM 5 — Mon. July 16 — 6 pm — Bartow County vs. Loser Gm 4 (elimination game)
GM 6 — Mon. July 16 — 8 pm — Northern-Columbus vs. Loser Gm 3 (elimination game)
GM 7 — Tue. July 17 — 6 pm — Winner Gm 3 vs. Winner Gm 4
GM 8 — Tue. July 17 — 8 pm — Winner Gm 5 vs. Winner Gm 6 (elimination game)
GM 9 — Wed. July 18 — 6 pm — Loser Gm 7 vs. Winner Gm 8 (elimination game)
GM 10 — Thr. July 19 — 6 pm — Winner Gm 7 vs. Winner Gm 9 (championship round)
GM 11 — Thr. July 19 — 8 pm — Winner Gm 10 vs. Loser Gm 10 (if needed)
PEACHTREE CITY SENDS CARTERSVILLE LITTLE LEAGUE 12U TO LOSER'S BRACKET
Cartersville Little League 12U lost its Georgia Little League tournament opener Saturday afternoon 11-3 to Peachtree City Little League to fall into the state tournament’s loser’s bracket in Cobb County.
Although the loss does not eliminate Cartersville in the double-elimination event, it does mean the locals will need seven straight wins to capture the state title and advance to the Southeast Regionals.
The game started several hours later than originally scheduled due to lightning and rain delays, but both offenses started fast.
Hitting as the visiting team in the top of the first inning, Cartersville’s Caleb Daniel singled with one out to start an eventful opening frame for both teams. Daniel stole second and moved to third on a two-out base hit by Ayden Ray. Connor Brasfield then followed with a three-run homer and Cartersville held an early 3-0 edge.
Peachtree City immediately responded in the bottom of the first inning, however, with five runs of their own. Four hits in the inning, along with a pair of walks, a sac fly, a groundout RBI, and an infield error put Peachtree City ahead 5-3.
After Cartersville went down in order in the second inning, Peachtree City tacked on three more runs to take an 8-3 lead. A leadoff bunt single was followed by a two-run home run. Then a double and a sac fly after a passed ball built Peachtree City a five-run lead.
Following a scoreless third inning, another three runs in the bottom of the fourth inning by Peachtree City essentially spelled Cartersville’s demise. After two outs in the inning, Peachtree City scored three times on a walk, a pair of defensive miscues, and two singles.
Meanwhile, Peachtree City pitchers kept the Cartersville offense bottled up over the final five innings. Their starter worked into the sixth inning and totaled 13 strikeouts with only one walk.
Cartersville had a pair of baserunners in the fourth inning and one more in the sixth on Ray’s second hit of the game, but they did not score again.
Connor Stermer (1 IP, 5R, 4ER, 4H, 2BB) started on the mound for Cartersville and suffered the pitching loss with one complete inning. Brasfield (3.1 IP, 6R, 2ER, 6H, 1BB, 3K) worked in middle relief and Gavin Shrewsbury retired the final two outs.
Cartersville Little League 12U returns to the Smyrna diamond Sunday afternoon at 1:30 p.m. for an elimination game against Chatham County Little League.
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Little League Baseball (12U) Georgia state tournament schedule/results:
Double-elimination. All games at Smyrna Little League
Sat. July 14 — Warner Robins 14, Chatham County 0
Sat. July 14 — Athens 14, Hart County 2
Sat. July 14 — Northern-Columbus 10, Elbert County 0
Sat. July 14 — Peachtree City 11, Cartersville 3
GM 5 — Sun. July 15 — 10am — Warner Robins vs. Smyrna
GM 6 — Sun. July 15 — 10:30am — Belvedere-Midway vs. Athens
GM 7 — Sun. July 15 — 1pm — Elbert Co. vs. Hart Co. (elimination game)
GM 8 — Sun. July 15 — 1:30pm — Chatham Co. vs. Cartersville (elimination game)
GM 9 — Mon. July 16 — 6pm — Loser Gm 7 vs. Loser Gm 5 (elimination game)
GM 10 — Mon. July 16 — 8:30pm — Loser Gm 6 vs. Winner Gm 8 (elimination game)
GM 11 — Tue. July 17 — 6pm — Northern-Columbus vs. Winner Gm 5
GM 12 — Tue. July 17 — 8:30pm — Winner Gm 6 vs. Peachtree City
GM 13 — Wed. July 18 — 6pm — Winner Gm 10 vs. Loser Gm 11 (elimination game)
GM 14 — Wed. July 18 — 8:30pm — Loser Gm 12 vs. Winner Gm 9 (elimination game)
GM 15 — Thr. July 19 — 6pm — Winner Gm 11 vs. Winner Gm 12
GM 16 — Thr. July 19 — 8:30pm — Winner Gm 13 vs. Winner Gm 14 (elimination game)
GM 17 — Fri. July 20 — 7pm — Loser Gm 15 vs. Winner Gm 16 (elimination game)
GM 18 — Sat. July 21 — 9am — Winner Gm 15 vs. Winner Gm 17 (championship round)
GM 19 — Sun. July 22 — 10am — Winner Gm 18 vs. Loser Gm 18 (if needed)
The Georgia champion advances to the 2018 Little League Baseball Southeastern Regional Tournament at Little League Southeast Park in Warner Robins, GA August 3-8.
Results for Bartow County Little League and Cartersville Little League provided by the respective leagues and Georgia Little League Baseball and Softball. Bartow County Recreation Department and Cartersville Recreation Department baseball and softball teams participating in Georgia Recreation and Parks Association are reported to Bartow Sports Zone by the respective recreation departments and presented on Bartow Sports Zone by Play It Again Sports at 410 Cherokee Place in Cartersville.
