Jackets open Region with 3 games this week
The Calhoun High School baseball team begins Region 7-5A play this week with a three-game series against Cartersville.
In the past, the teams met twice a week and one of their meetings involved a doubleheader so they would play each other three times in a week, but this year, while they are still playing each of the other four teams in the Region three times a week, they are playing one game on three different days with no doubleheaders.
That meant the Yellow Jackets play two of their three games this week against Cartersville in Gordon County with games
Tuesday and Friday at Chip Henderson Field. Game Two of the three-game set is scheduled for 5:55 p.m. Thursday at Cartersville High School. (Details of the Tuesday Calhoun-Cartersville game were not available at press time).
At first glance, it would appear the Region 7-5A will be very competitive, provided Cartersville doesn’t run away with it like they did last year when they won all 15 league games and finished five teams ahead of the second place club. And it will be Calhoun first up trying to make sure that doesn’t happen with their three games against the Purple Hurricanes this week.
All five teams (Hiram is not included in this year’s standings) in the Region have played decent baseball through the first month of the season with Cartersville posting the best record so far with eight wins in their first 11 games.
Woodland has the second-best record so far with the Wildcats winning seven of their first 10 to start and Cass is also above .500 at 6-4 after its first 10 games.
Dalton and Calhoun are then just below .500 with the Catamounts 4-5 to start the week while Calhoun stands 4-6.
The young Yellow Jackets, which features a few freshmen and sophomores in its lineup, begin Region action looking to snap a three-game losing streak. But the Jackets had to feel good to be playing back at the
Chip, after Tuesday’s game against the Purple Hurricanes was their first one on their own field in over two weeks.
Since that thrilling 1-0 eight-inning, walk-off win over 6A Rome when pitchers Mason Peek (seven innings) and Jason Layson (one inning) combined to throw a no-hitter to beat the Wolves, the Jackets lost three out of four games at the Perfect Game Invitational in Hoover, Alabama before they fell 7-0 Saturday night to 6A Cherokee near Atlanta.
In Alabama, they were dodging raindrops and downpours to get their games in. They were scheduled to play four times in three days and were able to do that, but there were still times it looked shaky as far as whether they would get to play at all.
They began the Perfect Game Invite tournament with a 4-2 loss to Oxford, Alabama, but then bounced back last Friday to defeat Dublin out of Dublin, Georgia, 12-2 in their second game for their highest single-game run total this year.
The Jackets put up six runs in the top of the first inning to take control of the game immediately and then scored six more runs in the top of the fifth to end the game after five inning. The Dublin Fighting Irish scored both of their runs in the bottom of the fourth inning.
They ended play in the tournament a week ago Saturday with a pair of losses. First, they dropped a tough 4-3 decision to the Sparkman Senators out of Harvest, Alabama before their road trip ended with a 10-4 loss to St. Paul’s Episcopal from Mobile.
Last week, the team had just one game scheduled and they managed to play it, but not on Friday when it was originally to be played. Instead, the Yellow Jackets had to wait until Saturday
to go to Cherokee and they fell 7-0.
The Warriors did all their offensive damage in three innings. The home team got on the board immediately with a run in the bottom of the first inning and it remained 1-0 until they got some breathing room with three more in the bottom of the fourth. They would put the game away with three runs in the bottom of the sixth.
Calhoun finished the game with three hits.
After they finish playing Cartersville for the year, the Yellow Jackets step away from Region games next week with three games, including a homeand-away with North Paulding. Next Tuesday, they host North Paulding before on Thursday, they go to Tennessee to play Notre Dame. Then they are back at Chip Henderson Field next Friday to host North Paulding in the rematch.
Calhoun is then back in the Region starting Tuesday, March 26 when they take on Cass three times in four days.