Cartersville LL 12U blanks Bartow to reach district championship round
Cartersville Little League 12U moved to within one win of the 2019 Georgia Little League District 1 championship Sunday afternoon with a 10-0 shutout of Bartow County. Cartersville produced a trio of three-run innings and banged out 13 hits en route to their five-inning win.
Meanwhile, Cartersville pitchers Luke Parker and Tristan McKibben limited the Bartow County offense to only a pair of hits, one walk, and a hit batsmen. Parker (4 IP, 0R, 1H, 0BB, 4K) needed only 35 pitches and struck out four in four innings to earn the win. McKibben (1 IP, 0R, 1H, 1BB, 2K) fanned two in the fifth. Cartersville, who beat Rockmart 5-2 in the tournament’s opener Saturday, scored three runs in the bottom of the first to grab an early lead. Maddox Frazier doubled home the first run of the game. McKibben added an RBI double and later scored on Parker’s sacrifice fly. Cameron Cochran doubled and scored on a base hit by Cam Williams in the third inning before Cartersville tacked on three more runs in the fourth inning.
Logan Shrewsbury walked and moved into scoring position on a passed ball to start Cartersville’s fourth. Frazier followed with an RBI single. Following a walk and an infield error, the bases were loaded for an RBI walk drawn by Thomas Peters before Brodie McWhorter scored on a wild pitch to give Cartersville a 7-0 lead.
Cartersville ended the game in the fifth inning with three additional runs on four hits, a walk, and a Bartow miscue. Parker had an RBI single, McKibben forced home a run with a sacrifice fly, and the game ended with Andrew Lutjens’ RBI single for a 10-0 final score.
Clifton Parker had a first inning single and Reece Heaton singled in the fifth for Bartow County’s two hits.
Bartow starting pitcher Jackson Nelson (3 IP, 4R, 2ER, 8H, 1BB, 1K) suffered the loss. Robert Mitchell (0.0 IP, 3R, 2ER, 1H, 2BB) and Lucas Baker (1.2 IP, 3R, 2ER, 4H, 2BB, 1K) worked in relief.
Ten different Cartersville players had at least one hit each. Frazier finished 3-for-4 with a double and two RBI. Cameron Cochran had a two-hit game that included a double. McKibben’s double and sac fly drove home two runs. Parker also finished with two RBI. Williams and Lutjens had one hit and one RBI apiece. Julian Cline, Nolan Elrod, Landen Heath, and Shrewsbury had the other Cartersville base hits. The loss drops Bartow County to an elimination game Monday night against Rockmart at Rudy York Field at 6 p.m. The winner of that game will have a chance to rematch with Cartersville in the championship round starting Tuesday night at 6 p.m. Cartersville needs only one more win in the three team, double-elimination tournament to capture the title. If a second championship round game is needed, it is scheduled for Wednesday night at 6 p.m. at Rudy York Field.
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.
