Cartersville Junior LL tops Bartow County for District 1 championship
Cartersville Junior Little League (14U) pounded out thirteen hits and got a complete-game pitching effort from Ayden Ray Saturday morning to beat Bartow County and secure the Georgia Junior Little League District 1 best-of-three championship series with a second straight win. Cartersville topped Bartow County in Game 1 of the series Friday night 12-3 by pulling away with a six-run, fifth inning. (LINK)
The same Cartersville and Bartow County 14U squads squared off in the finals of the GRPA District 5 tournament that concluded earlier this month. Cartersville was 3-0 in that four-team double-elimination tournament on their way to securing the title. Bartow County 14U had wins over Whitfield County and Dalton in the GRPA District Tournament, but fell twice to Cartersville.
Ray, who also doubled twice at the plate, tossed a seven-inning one-hitter in Saturday’s series Little League District 1 clinching game. He walked three and struck out seven in the victory. The lone Bartow County run scored in the seventh inning after two walks and an unusual groundout to the right fielder. The only Bartow base hit was a third inning single to right field by Corey Brookshire. Bartow’s Caden Goff had the RBI groundout in the final frame.
Cartersville scored twice in the first inning and added three more runs in the third inning for a 5-0 lead. The offense also provided single runs in the fourth and sixth. Colin Genrich was a perfect 4-for-4 at the plate with one RBI to pace the Cartersville attack. Grant Knight drove in two runs with a pair of hits and Geoffrey Gore contributed a pair of RBI with one hit. Colt Williams, Luke Altizer, Trenton Payne, and Gabriel Cox had the other Cartersville base hits.
Connor Wright (3 IP, 5R, 4ER, 7H, 1BB, 2K) started on the mound for Bartow County and was tagged with the pitching loss. Brookshire (3 IP, 2R, 1ER, 6H, 1BB) pitched the final three frames. Cartersville Junior Little League (14U) advances to the Georgia Junior Little League State Tournament scheduled to begin July 13 in West Point, Georgia.
Little League results are provided to Bartow Sports Zone by Bartow County Little League and Cartersville Little League. The game data is shared by the leagues via GameChanger reports from the respective teams and/or leagues. GRPA tournament team results are also provided by the Cartersville Parks and Recreation Department and the Bartow County Parks and Recreation Department or the Georgia Recreation and Parks Association. Results and capsules are sponsored on Bartow Sports Zone by Play It Again Sports and CiCi's - Beyond Pizza, both located in the Cartersville Main Street - Cherokee Place Shopping Center.
