Troup defeated Cherokee Bluff 6-3 in the decisive Game 3 to capture the Class 3A state title and celebrate the first championship in program history. The Tigers opened up the series on Tuesday with a 5-1 victory in Game 1, but Cherokee Bluff evened up the series with a 15-0 victory in Game 2 and forced the Tigers to regroup before returning to Rome’s Advent Health Stadium on Wednesday. Troup head coach Tanner Glisson went with sophomore Davis Moncus to start Game 3 and he pitched six scoreless innings after surrendering three runs in the top of the first inning. The Bears picked up where they left off in their 15-0 Game 2 victory and jumped out to the 3-0 lead. Bubba Coleman and Landon Kemp walked to start the game and Ethan England singled to center field to drive home Coleman. Bryce Fontenot forced the third walk of the inning to get on base and then England eventually scored on a wild pitch. Cherokee Bluff’s third run came on a Kaden Thompson RBI groundout and Troup left the inning trailing 3-0.
Troup’s Carson Walker and Fisher Baltzell drove in a pair of runs in the bottom of the first inning to shrink the deficit to 3-2 and eventually took the lead in the bottom of the third inning with a trio of runs to go up 5-3 before an insurance run was added in the fourth. Moncus doubled and was driven home by a Walker single to center field and then sophomore Chase Mosley tripled down the right field line to drive home Baltzell and Walker to give Troup its first lead of the game at 5-3. The final run came with Walker’s RBI single that drove home Delaney in the bottom of the fourth. Moncus earned the win and surrendered seven hits and three earned runs with four walks—three of which came in the top of the first inning. Cherokee Bluff stranded seven runners on base to Troup’s four and used Coleman, Robinson and Kemp at the mound.
Class A Div. II
Lanier County 4, Wilcox County 1 (Game 3)
Lanier County defended its state title and climbed out of a 1-0 hole in the series after a 5-1 loss with a 16-6 victory in Game 2 and a 4-1 championship-clinching victory on Wednesday at JI Clements Stadium. Senior Ashton Cook led the Bulldogs at the mound with just three hits allowed in seven innings pitched. Offensively, Stone Carey drove in a pair of runs and Ashton Cook and his brother Cayden Cook also recorded RBI. Wilcox County’s Tre Griffin threw 95 pitches and went six innings with four strikeouts and four earned runs.
Class 4A
Cartersville 6-3, Blessed Trinity 3-7 (series split 1-1)
Blessed Trinity opened up a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning and held the lead until Cartersville’s four-run effort in the fourth inning. The Titans chipped into the deficit in the bottom of the sixth inning to cut it to 4-3, but Cartersville added a pair of insurance runs in the top of the seventh inning before Maddox Frazier came in for starter Nate Russell and retired the side. In Game 2, Blessed Trinity broke open the game with a six-run effort in the top of the third inning. Quinn Davis got the Titans on the board after a Carson Zagryn single up the middle and then Bowen crossed the plate to make it 2-0 after a wild pitch. Aiden Zagryn sent an RBI double down the left field line to score Carson and the final three runs of the inning came on a two RBI single by Bass and an unearned run by Kisz that came on a balk. Cartersville’s Logan Shrewsbury came in for Clint Hosea midway through the top of the fourth and got out of the jam with a 6-0 deficit. Sophomore Caden Dawson doubled and reached third after a fielding error and drove home Aiden Zagryn to push the lead to 7-0 in the top of the fourth inning. Cartersville sparked a three-run bottom of the fifth inning that was aided by a pair of walks, two throwing errors and a pair of wild pitches. Cartersville’s J. Pratt walked to start the bottom of the sixth inning and Brayden Loquasto left the bullpen to take over for Joseph Contreras—who went five innings with eight strikeouts, three hits and three earned runs with his six walked batters. Loquasto recorded the first out of the frame after forcing a fielder’s choice and then struck out Cochran and Peters to close the inning and finished the seventh inning with a pop fly to center field for the first out and groundouts to seal the victory. Game 3 will be played Thursday at 6:00 p.m. at Coolray Field.
Class 2A
Rockmart 6-6, Franklin County 0-0 (Rockmart sweeps series 2-0)
Rockmart senior and Georgia State-commit Hunter Atkins pitched seven scoreless innings to lead Rockmart to a 6-0 victory in Game 1 of the Class 2A finals at AdventHealth Stadium. The Prep Georgia Pitcher of the Year finished his complete-game victory with 50 strikes and 70 total pitches with zero walks, four strikeouts and just four hits. Offensively, Rockmart built a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning off an RBI single by Atkins and a run scored by junior Neyland Husley. In the bottom of the third inning, Hulsey padded the lead with an RBI double and then scored after a wild pitch to push the lead to 4-0. Later in the inning, Brax McBryde drove home Rob Yagyu with a sacrifice fly to center field that put the Yellowjackets up 5-0. The final run came in the fourth inning when Seth Hamrick scored on a balk.
In Game 2, Rockmart out-hit Franklin County 9-6 in its 6-0 shutout victory and brought home the first state title in program history. Trey Luke pitched a complete-game shutout and struck out seven batters. Yagyu and McBryde each drove in a pair of runs, while Akins and Zuker added RBI in the victory. Franklin County walked seven batters in the Game 2 loss and Rockmart left 10 batters on base to the Lions’ seven.
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