Ringgold girls upend Ridgeland
The Ringgold girls had their final dress rehearsal before their official start of the 2021 soccer season with a 3-1 home win over Ridgeland in a scrimmage last Tuesday night.
All four goals were scored in the first half.
Joanna Medlin struck first for Ringgold on a penalty kick and she would add an assist on the second goal as her corner kick found a leaping Alayna Custer, who headed it into the net. Medlin would add a second tally of her own later in the half.
Ridgeland broke the up the shutout bid on the final kick of the half as Annabelle Casto got one past the keeper.
Scottie Parton got the win in goal for the Lady Tigers.
In the boys’ match, Ayden Rowland and Lian Lehmann scored for the Tigers in a 2-0 victory. Easton Wade and Trent Baldwin were credited with assists in the shutout victory.
Heritage girls 3, LFO 0
The Lady Generals picked up a win over county rival LFO last Tuesday.
Emma Tennyson opened the scoring in the 22nd minute on a deflected goal with McKenna Bialecke picking up the assist. Brooke Fairchild netted the final two goals in the 31st and 45th minutes off assists from Mady Raye Terry and Molly Cason.
The boys’ match had to be postponed.
Heritage girls 4, Pickens 0
On Friday night, the Lady Generals (3-0, 1-0) posted a Region 7-AAAA victory on the road behind three Fairchild goals and one by Lila Langston.
Emma Walther, Lindsay Connell and Terry combined for the shutout in goal.
Results of the boys’ match had not been reported as of press time.
LFO girls 5, Christian Heritage 1
Emma Leverrett and Anesa Merdzo each knocked home a pair of goals on Thursday to lift the Lady Warriors (33) to a win in Dalton. Sydnee Brown scored once for LFO. Shaili Patel and Makenna Redmon anchored the defense to help Joanna Matute and Star Lockhart combine for the shutout. Each keeper recorded one save.
The girls’ match was the only scheduled match of the night.
Ridgeland girls 1, Central-Carroll 0
The Lady Panthers got a goal from Casto in the 21st minute and a strong defensive effort made it stand as they moved to 1-0 in Region 7-AAAA with a shutout over the visiting Lady Lions on a damp, chilly Friday night.
B2
For the second year in a row, the LFO Warriors saw a good basketball season come to an abrupt end with a tough first-round defeat.
Playing on the road in Cleveland this past Wednesday night, the Red-and-White fought back from an eightpoint halftime deficit, but ultimately fell two point short in a 54-52 loss at Region 7-AAA runner-up White County.
The host Warriors erased an early four-point deficit and took a 15-11 lead at the end of the first quarter before going into the locker room up 31-23. LFO would use a run to tie the game at 35 in the third, only to see White County counter with an 8-0 spurt of its own to reclaim an eight-point cushion going into the fourth.
The tribe from Fort Oglethorpe would fight their way back into the ball game over the final eight minutes and eventually tied the game at 52. White County would score in the final minute to regain the lead and LFO would get a chance to win it at the buzzer. However, a final 3-pointer would not fall as the home team advanced to the second round.
Silas Mulligan scored 15 points for White County (166), who were soundly beaten by top-ranked Sandy Creek, 95-37, in the second round of the playoffs this past weekend.
Jamichael Davis had 17 points for LFO (14-9). Dee Calhoun and Cameron Gregg both scored 13 points and Brent Bowman finished with nine.
The Heritage Generals got to know their Catoosa County rivals a little better last week after a game against LFO last Monday, followed by a home-andhome series with Ringgold later in the week.
Heritage 10, LFO 3
A seven-run second inning proved to be the difference against the Warriors in a home victory.
Landen Skeen was hit by a pitch to start the inning and courtesy runner Brady Chandler moved to second on a single by Zach Barrett. J. J. Hunt then dropped a flare right on the line in right field to bring in the first run of the evening as Barrett scampered to third. Dylan Bryan followed with a picture-perfect bunt to plate Barrett with the Generals’ second run.
After a C.J. Robertson single and a Gage Shaver walk loaded the bases, Cannon Stafford laced a two-run double to center, while the next two runs came home on an error following a hard-hit ball by Alex Mixon, who took second base on the play.
Courtesy runner Eli Tetherow later took third base on a passed ball and raced home on the Warriors’ second error of the inning.
LFO scored three in the top of the fourth, only to see the Generals answer with a three-spot of their own in the bottom of the frame. Shaver and Mixon sandwiched a pair of doubles around Stafford, who drew a walk. Stafford trotted home on a passed ball and J.T. Eaton’s RBI-single capped the scoring.
Skeen allowed four hits in five innings, but none of the three runs he gave up were earned. He walked three batters and finished with six strikeouts, while Taylor Vinson pitched a pair of innings out of the bullpen, allowing one hit and one walk with two strikeouts.
Seven players accounted for the seven hits by the Generals.
Ringgold 7, Heritage 1
Robertson led off Tuesday’s game by reaching third on an error and scoring on Shaver’s sacrifice fly, but it would be the only run of the night for the Navy-and-Red.
Ringgold claimed the lead with two runs in the bottom of the first and steadily increased its advantage the rest of the way. The Tigers scored seven runs on just four hits, while taking advantage of nine Heritage walks.
Sam Mills had an RBI-triple for the Tigers and Austin McMahan recorded a double. Mason Parker, Colin Mountjoy and Chase Ghormley all had solo RBIs.
Mountjoy pitched four innings and got the win, allowing no earned runs on two hits and five walks with seven strikeouts. Robbie Bates fanned four in two innings of relief, giving up just one walk, while Parker struck out one batter in a hitless, scoreless inning to close it out.
Skeen and Mixon had the only two hits for Heritage, both singles. Hunt was saddled with the loss. He started and threw three innings of four-hit ball, giving up an earned run with two walks and three strikeouts. Rob
ertson did not allow a hit or an earned run in two innings of work. He fanned three, though he walked six, and Shaver gave up an earned run and a walk in one inning out of the bullpen. He also recorded a strikeout.
Heritage 6, Ringgold 5
The rivals put on a backand-forth battle for fans in Boynton on Thursday night, but in the end it was the homestanding Generals (3-1) pulling out a one-run victory to split the series.
Stafford stayed hot with two hits and an RBI. Shaver and Skeen both had one hit and one RBI, while Robertson also drove in a run.
Barrett pitched the first four innings. He gave up four runs, though none of them were earned, on six hits and a walk. He finished with seven strikeouts. Cade Kiniry struck out three batters in two innings, allowing one earned run on one hit and one walk. Caden Snyder struck out one batter in two-thirds of an inning of relief.
Ghormley, Bates, Hudson Chandler and Eli Norris all pitched for the Tigers
Parker went 3 for 4 with
an RBI. Mills had two hits in three at-bats, while Mountjoy and McMahan each drove in a run.
Ringgold 13, Dalton 3
The Tigers (4-2) broke open a tie ball game with two runs in the bottom of the fifth before finishing it off with an eight-run eruption an inning later to take down the Catamounts at Bill Womack Field on Saturday.
Mills delivered a two-run walk-off double to end the game, one of five two-base hits by the Tigers in the contest. McCain Mangum, Kenyon Ransom, Ross Norman, Dre Morris and Parker each had two hits on the night. Mangum matched Mills with two RBIs, while Ransom, Norman, Morris, McMahan and Sam Crew had one RBI each.
Ransom went the distance on the hill, allowing just one earned run on three hits with a walk and nine strikeouts.
The game was originally scheduled as part of a doubleheader, but field conditions from Friday’s rain forced one game to be cancelled and the other to be pushed back several hours.