Ringgold, Trion to decide NGAC baseball tournament this week
The top two seeds in the NGAC baseball tournament were scheduled to clash for the championship early this week as top-seeded Ringgold (17-1) will host second-seeded Trion (11-1) in a best-of-three series.
The Tigers defeated the Bulldogs, 6-2, in the teams’ only meeting of the season back on March 9. It was Trion’s only loss of the season.
A doubleheader was slated for Monday with Game 3, if needed, set for Tuesday. Due to newspaper deadlines, results were not available in this edition.
Heritage 7, LaFayette 4
Down 7-0, the sixth-seeded LaFayette Ramblers scored four times in the top of the sixth inning, but it was not enough to complete the comeback as they dropped a 7-4 decision to third-seeded Heritage in an NGAC opening-round tournament game in Boynton last Tuesday.
Henry Allen and Maddox Henry had two hits each for Heritage. Henry recorded an RBI, while Caden Strickland also drove in a run for the Generals. Ayden Harmon and Cody Bryan both had singles in the game and Brandon Greene scored a run, drove in a run and drew three walks.
Allen started on the hill and pitched five innings of no-hit ball. He struck out six batters and allowed just one walk. Ty Hunt, Cohen Fletcher and Lex Davey combined for two innings of relief. They allowed just two hits
and two walks with three strikeouts with Davey picking up the save.
Julian Lees had a double and knocked in two runs for the Ramblers, while Mason Sorsveen also added a double.
Hunter Jefferies allowed three earned runs on three hits and four
walks in three innings of work. He also finished with six strikeouts. Isaiah McKenzie, Brennon Beavers and Tucker Crowe pitched three combined innings out of the bullpen. They gave up three hits and eight walks with one strikeout.
Chattanooga Valley 9, Gordon Lee 8
The Eagles picked up their first NGAC playoff victory since 2003 with a win in Chickamauga last Tuesday.
The fifth-seeded Eagles led 5-1 after two innings, only to see the fourth-seeded Trojans rally. Gordon Lee scored two in the third inning and one in the fourth to cut the Eagles’ lead down to one.
The Valley would answer with four big runs in the top of the fifth inning to go back ahead, 8-4. Gordon Lee would get two runs back in the bottom of the fifth and they would score solo runs in each of the last two frames.
The Trojans would put runners at first and second base with two outs in their final at-bat, but CVMS pitcher Kain Brown would induce a final flyball to rightfield to end the game.
Dallas Bilbrey went 2 for 4 and knocked in three runs for the Eagles. Brown was 2 for 4 with a double and two RBIs, while Jamie Hinton had two hits, scored twice and knocked in a pair of runs.
Josh Langston also went 2 for 4, while Holden Lyons and Hagen Patterson had one RBI apiece.
Eli Massey started the game on the hill and pitched 3.1 innings. He gave up five hits and four walks, but just two earned runs, while finishing with six strikeouts. Brown pitched the final 3.2 innings get to save. He allowed two earned runs on three hits and five walks with three strikeouts.
Dalton Russell and Jackson Scali both had two hits and two RBIs for Gordon Lee. Aiden Goodwin had a double and one RBI. Ty Thompson collected four walks and scored twice, while Maddox Millard drew three walks.
Payton Groce pitched two innings, allowing one earned run on six hits
with three strikeouts. Garrett Ross threw 2.2 innings. He allowed four hits and two walks with two strikeouts, but did not allow an earned run, while Dustin Day struck out three batters and gave up one hit in his 2.1 innings on the mound.
Ringgold 15, Chattanooga Valley 0
The top-seeded Tigers finished off their semifinal doubleheader opener in just three innings on Thursday behind a big game from Garrett Edgar. Edgar had a single, a double and a triple, while knocking in four runs. The game ended on a walk-off, three-run homer from Logan Bramlett.
Aidan Hickman had a double, an RBI and scored three times. Logan Moore also recorded a double. Jackson Black had two hits and scored twice, while Colt Forgey, Haddon Fries, Brayden Sylar and Pierce Pennington all drove in one run each.
Hickman pitched all three innings, walking three and striking out six in the abbreviated no-hitter.
Eli Massey and Dallas Bilbrey pitched for the Eagles in Game 1.
Ringgold 10, Chattanooga Valley 0
Black struck out seven batters and gave up just one hit in five innings in the nightcap. He also went 3 for 3 at the plate and drove in a run.
Bramlett belted his second homer of the series, a two-run shot, in the bottom of the first inning. Hickman went 3 for 4 with a pair of doubles and one RBI, while Edgar had two hits and three RBIs, including a two-run, walk-off double to end the game in the fifth inning.
Massey, Gavin Hughley and Hagen Patterson all pitched for the Eagles, while Kain Brown had a single to account for his team’s lone hit in the game.
Trion 13, Heritage 3
The Generals traveled south to face the second-seeded Bulldogs on Thursday and fell in the opener. Hunt and Bryan both had doubles for the Generals, while Henry and Davey each collected one single. Hunt, Davey and Greene all recorded RBIs in the loss.
Greene, along with Jake Collette and Blake Debity, pitched for Heritage in Game 1. They combine to strike out seven batters, but they also issued eight walks.
Trion 7, Heritage 2
In Game 2 of the doubleheader, Davey and Greene had the only RBIs for the Generals, who played as the home team during the game. Hunt, Henry, Davey and Allen accounted for Heritage’s four hits, all singles.
Hunt, along with Strickland and Fletcher, did the pitching for the Generals in Game 2. They walked three batters and struck out 10, while only six of the runs were earned.