Ridgeland stumbles against Cedartown
After scoring five unanswered runs after trailing 6-0, the Ridgeland Panthers surrendered six additional runs in the top of the seventh inning and dropped their Region 7-AAAA opener to Cedartown, 12-5, last Tuesday night at Jay Smith Field in Rossville.
Hayden Brewer started for the Panthers and allowed three earned runs on three hits and five walks in two innings of work. He was replaced by Robert Jent, who gave up two earned runs on three hits and four walks in four innings of relief. The senior finished with five strikeouts. Austyn Acuff pitched the seventh. He gave up three hits and two walks with one strikeout. Only three of the runs he allowed were earned.
Isaac Pitts had two hits, a stolen base and two RBIs for the Panthers. Nolan Hughley went 1 for 2 with an RBI. Jent went 1 for 1 and scored twice, while Jordan McLin also picked up a single.
Cedartown 13, Ridgeland 3
Game 1 of Friday’s doubleheader in Polk County was tied up going into the bottom of the fifth inning when the Bulldogs exploded for 10 runs to win the game on the run rule.
Acuff had a single, which turned out to be the only hit of the game for the Panthers.
Jent pitched four innings, giving up four earned runs on seven hits and four walks with four strikeouts.
Hughley, Curtis Wells and Chris Maddeaux all pitched in relief for Ridgeland.
Cedartown 15, Ridgeland 5
Two singles by Maddeaux would be all of the hits the Panthers would collect in the nightcap, while Maddeaux, along with Hughley and McLin, were credited with RBIs.
McLin started the game on the hill and pitched just one inning. He walked three batters and gave up three runs, though none of them were earned. He also finished with one strikeout. Brewer pitched 2.2 innings, giving up four walks and striking out three, while Jacob Klein pitched one-third of an inning and allowed one hit.
Ridgeland (1-7 overall, 0-3 in region) is not scheduled to play again until the beginning of a three-game series with Heritage Mar. 30 in Rossville.