Ringgold advances to second round of state playoffs Heritage blasts Jefferson in playoff sweep
Big games mean big moments for the Ringgold baseball team.
With a sweep over the visiting Jackson County Panthers, 7-3 in Game 1 and 5-0 in Game 2 in the opening round of the Georgia Class AAA state playoffs at Bill Womack Field this past Friday, the Tigers are just one step closer in accomplishing their goals.
Ringgold head coach Brent Tucker said his team is always up to the task, but this time of year, he said their focus level is heightened a few notches as these are the biggest games of the year.
“They’re ball players and they’re competitors and athletes,” Tucker said. “This is what they look forward to. This is what they do as they say.”
Ringgold (27-5) will host a secondround series, starting Thursday against Appling County.
Game 1 on Friday was won due to timely hitting. With the score tied at three, Tigers’ catcher Gavin Hollis sliced a two-run single off Panther pitcher Logan Youngblood in the bottom of the sixth, giving his team the lead.
Hollis said it was time for him to step up and make a huge play for his team.
“It was big,” he said. “I had a great at-bat and I came through. I felt like I had to come through in the clutch. I saw the pitch and I was like ‘you’re mine. It’s go time. It’s me and you out here. We are going to see what you got.’”
Ringgold was able to tack on two more runs later in the sixth, including an RBI on a Holden Tucker sacrifice fly.
Still, the game wasn’t over as Jackson County’s Chris Griggs was threatening to advance a runner from first base. With two outs in the bottom of the seventh, Griggs swung at a Nathan Camp pitch, hitting the ball high and deep, but headed for the fence in right field foul territory.
But Ringgold outfielder Ty Jones ran like the wind towards the fence. Sacrificing his body, he ran full speed into the fence, reached over and caught the ball in foul territory for the final out of the game.
“I was thinking about making a play for my pitcher,” Jones said. “A play like that you really don’t think; you just go be an athlete. That’s what Coach Tucker tells us to do all the time, and that’s what I did. It hurt a lot, and I really didn’t think I was going to flip over it when I teetered right there.”
Hunter Ricketts went 2-for-2 with four RBIs, Hollis went 2-for3 with two RBIs and Tyler Nichols was 2-for3.
Jackson County finished with six hits, while Caleb Mathews went 1-for-2 with an RBI.
Camp had four strikeouts and two earned runs allowed in the complete game win.
Ringgold polished off the sweep with a shutout in the nightcap.
Tiger centerfielder Andre Tarver got things started, blasting a solo homerun in the top of the fourth to make the score 1-0.
By virtue of their No. 2 seed, the Heritage Generals were only assured of hosting one state playoff series in this year’s state tournament.
Should they keep facing No. 1 seeds, it means that Friday’s doubleheader against Jefferson marked the final time that the Navyand-Red would play ball at home this season.
And if Friday was indeed their final home appearance of the year, the Generals went out with a bang. A lot of them. Heritage pounded out 27 hits in 11 innings at the plate in the doubleheader and simply squashed the visiting Dragons, 11-1 and 18-1, to sweep the best-of-five, Class AAAA, opening-round series.
The Generals scored in all but two innings over the course of the doubleheader and used a huge inning in each game to blow things wide open. A seven-run third inning in Game 1 sealed the opener, while Heritage - playing as the visiting team in Game 2 - led 9-1 going into the top of the seventh before torching Jefferson pitching for nine extra runs.
“When you start (the playoffs), you’re concerned about a lot of things, especially whether or not you’re going to get enough offense,” head coach Eric Beagles added. “You don’t get a lot of it in bunches all the time, so it was good to get it. We won’t complain because it builds momentum, so hopefully we can take this and run with it.”
A two-run double by Cole Wilcox got things going in the first inning of Game 1 before Lance Dockery cleared the bases with a three-run double in the third. Dockery’s shot was followed up by Joseph Hill, who mashed a Brandon Trefren offering for a two-run homer.
Brodie Campbell and Luke Grant were each 2-for-3 with two runs scored, while Alex Coulter matched Wilcox with two RBIs. Grant knocked in one run to help give plenty of run support for Wilcox.
The junior threw the abbreviated fiveinning complete game, allowing five hits and two walks with three strikeouts as he moved to 9-1 on the year. The run he gave up was
Tarver said he knew it was out when he made contact.
“It felt good,” he said. “I saw my pitch and swung. It felt pretty good. It was pretty big. We needed that to start us off and get us going. It really helped. We got three hits right after that. It helped us a lot.”
Tucker not only pitched a complete game, striking out five with no earned runs allowed in a four-hitter, he was able to muster up some huge hits, including an RBI in the top of the fifth and a two-run base knock in the sixth.
“It was huge for us,” he explained. “Anytime you are able to knock in a couple runs, it’s big. It’s always good. I try and come out here and have fun and help my team.”
Tucker went 2-for3 with three RBIs in Game 2, while Nichols was 2-for-4. The team had seven hits for a second straight game.
Mathews and Spencer Starkweather each had two hits for the Panthers.