Generals close to region title
Heritage won a pair of tight baseball games Friday night to remain in control of the Region 7-AAAA championship race as the GHSA regular season heads into its final week.
The host Generals (20-5, 13-2) won 3-1 and 4-3 against Central-Carroll (13-11, 7-8) to maintain a game lead over Cedartown. The two meet in a three-game series to decide the title and postseason No. 1 seed next week, with game one at Cedartown on Tuesday and the final two at Heritage next Friday.
“I’m proud of our guys for battling tonight and clawing out two wins,” Heritage coach Eric Beagles said. “It sets things up for a huge series next week against Cedartown. We have to stay focused on us, do what we do and do it well.”
Cade Kiniry shut down the Lions in game one, going the distance and allowing four hits and one earned run while striking out seven batters. Cannon Stafford drove in the go-ahead run in a two-run fifth inning, with Alex Mixon following with an RBI groundout. Kiniry, who had the team’s first RBI, retired the final 10 Central batters.
The Generals scored each of their four runs in game two in the second inning, with Dylan Bryan and Kiniry (via squeeze bunt) getting RBIs, with the other two runs scoring on an error. C.J. Robertson had two RBIs, with Bryan going 2-for-2 for the winners. Landon Skeen earned the pitching win, going five innings and allowing three earned runs on four hits, with Caden Snyder getting the save with two scoreless innings.
› Gordon Lee 11-10, Trion 0-0: The Trojans (24-2), Georgia’s top-ranked team in Class A public, clinched the Region 6 championship and postseason No. 1 seed with a sweep of their rivals as they finished 12-0 in league play. Jake Poindexter allowed three hits and struck out 10 in game one while also adding two hits, including a homer, and two RBIs. Brody Cobb had a triple and a double among his three hits and drove in two runs, with Cade Peterson adding three hits and an RBI and Kade Cowan scoring three times and getting two hits. Riley King pitched all four innings in game two and allowed three hits while striking out six. Brodie Genter had a three-run homer and Cobb a three-run double for Gordon Lee.
› Calhoun 4-7, Woodland-Bartow 7-5: Calhoun’s Yellow Jackets (17-7, 11-5 Region 7-AAAAA) earned a split in the doubleheader and took the series two games to one. The Wildcats scored six runs in the fifth and sixth innings to win Friday’s first game as Drew Billings, Carter Heath and Scotty Smith each had five RBIs. John Andrew Cash drove in two for Calhoun. The Jackets scored two runs in the seventh inning of the second game on RBI singles from Dante Morton and Parker Lester to get the split. Braden Saunders added two RBIs and got the pitching win after going the final 5 2/3 innings and allowing one run and striking out 11. Hagan Banks was 3-for-4 with two RBIs, and Morton added two hits and scored twice for Calhoun.
› Sonoraville 3, Murray County 0: The Phoenix (159, 9-4 Region 6-AAA) rolled as ace Tanner Folds allowed seven hits and struck out 14 in a complete game. Cole Gross was 3-for-3, Jaxon Pate 2-for-4 with an RBI and Hayden Holsomback added a solo homer for the winners.
› Dade County 5-15, Gordon Central 2-0: The Wolverines (13-10, 11-3 Region 7-AA) swept as Brett Kay had four hits and five RBIs in the two games. Brodie Swader struck out nine and allowed one run and two hits in game one while also going 2-for-3 with an RBI. Colton Emmett was 3-for-3 with three RBIs, with Eli Kimball and Kay also adding three RBIs in game two.
› Silverdale Baptist 10, Lookout Valley 0: Bryson Cline and Brett Rogers pitched well, and Cameron Mullins drove in two runs and scored three times for the Seahawks in victory. Rogers also went 3-for-3 and scored three runs, while Cline knocked in three runs and doubled.
› Silverdale Baptist 9, Hixson 6: The Seahawks (172) scored four runs in the top of the sixth to pull away from the Wildcats. Cameron Mullins went 2-for-4 with a double and three RBIS, and Sebastian Hanks allowed one run in six innings for the win.
› Bradley Central 6, Signal Mountain 2: Ashton Simmons went 2-for-3 with three RBIs for the Bears, who jumped out to a 6-0 lead. Preston Worley’s two-run homer was the lone hit for the Eagles.
› Sequatchie County 18, Red Bank 2: Tyler Lynn and Logan Potts each had three hits, and Griffin Hall tripled and drove in four runs while scoring three times for the Indians. Maddox Vandergriff drove in a run for the Lions.
› Signal Mountain 10, East Hamilton 9: The Eagles fought back from down 4-0 in a game in which Cole Hanners provided a spark with two hits and four RBIs. Carter Giles also hit a home run and drove in a pair of runs for Signal Mountain. East Hamilton was led by Austin Wolcott (2-for-2, three runs) and Carson Hedrick (2-for-3, two runs).
SOFTBALL
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Silverdale Baptist 5, Walker Valley 4: The Lady Seahawks scored one run in every inning from the third to the seventh and were sparked by Bentlee Stiner, who went 2-for-4 and hit a walkoff homer. Junior McCade Cooper was 2-for-2 with two RBIs, and Gabbie Hensley also had two hits. Grace Martin was 2-for-4 with three RBIs for Walker Valley.
› Boyd Buchanan 21, Notre Dame 0: Izzy Messer went 3-for-3 with five RBIs, while Kiley Elliott, Brooke Watson and Presley Williamson all hit home runs for the Lady Buccaneers.
› Soddy-Daisy 10, Red Bank 2: Courtney Sneed went 4-for-4 with a pair of RBIs, Taylor Lloyd had three hits and struck out eight batters in five innings and Makayla Perez was 2-for-3 for the Lady Trojans. The Lady Lions hit two homers.
TENNIS
› Notre Dame defeated St. Andrew’s-Sewanee, 6-1 in a boys’ match and 4-3 in a girls’ match. Hannah Widerkehr won her singles match, 8-5, and teamed up with Savina Jones for an 8-3 doubles victory. Notre Dame’s Sam Phillips and Patrick Osborne won a tough 9-7 match over Nathan and Tanner King.
› GPS defeated Silverdale 7-0, with Meghan Boehm winning 8-1 in singles and 8-2 in doubles with Evalynn Mann.