Dalton beats Calhoun in important Game One
The Dalton High School baseball team kept its faint playoff hopes alive Monday night, defeating Calhoun 4-1 in the opening game of their seasonending three-game series at Chip Henderson Field.
The victory elevated the Catamounts to 2-8 in Region play and while they remain in fifth place in the league, a couple of more wins over the Yellow Jackets this week when the teams meet two more times and it appears that Dalton will at least have claim to the fourth and final seed.
For Calhoun, the loss sent them to 4-6 in the Region and dropped them out of a second-place tie with Cass, which was playing Woodland at the same time as those four teams scramble for the last three spots behind unbeaten Region champion Cartersville, which is playing Centennial this week in their final outings before the GHSA playoffs begin next week.
For Calhoun, the Yellow Jackets got off to a rough start and then hung around the rest of the game, but after a solo run in the second inning, they couldn’t come up with the timely hit they needed when they did have a chance to draw closer or pull even.
It also snapped a two-game Region win streak that helped the Jackets get back into position to possibly host an opening-round playoff series as they went into the game tied for second place in the Region with Cass, but hold the tiebreaker over the Colonels.
The Jackets were trying to pull back into second place in the Region and even things up with the Catamounts Tuesday afternoon when the teams resumed their three-game set back in Dalton. (Details of that game were not available at press time). The teams then return to Calhoun Thursday night for Game Three and the season finale for both ballclubs scheduled for a 5:55 p.m. first pitch.
Dalton started the game like it might be an easy victory, collecting consecutive hits and then using a Calhoun throwing error to score their first run before they made an out. They had men at the corners with nobody out and a chance at a really big inning, but Calhoun freshman starting pitcher Mason Peek battled back and got consecutive strikeouts.
A walk loaded the bases and a basehit up the middle brought in Dalton’s second run, but Peek got his third strikeout of the inning to leave the bases loaded and the Yellow Jackets were down 2-nothing before it got its first at-bats.
Calhoun answered with its lone run of the game in the bottom half of the inning.
Leadoff hitter Issac Green ripped the first pitch Dalton threw into the right field gap for a double. After a strikeout, third baseman Dylan Crawley pounded a single back up the middle and Green raced home to cut the lead in half at 2-1. Crawley promptly stole second base, but
especially as of late but in total this past year, they gave up just 29 goals all season and if they can continue that pace in the playoffs, they could be playing a while.
Junior striker Alex Delgado leads the team in goals scored, but junior midfielder Jordan Garcia ad junior midfielder Luis Miranda have also contributed to the scoring, meaning the Jackets aren’t relying on just one person to put the ball in the net. Overall, at least 10 players have scored for the Jackets this season.
Junior goalkeeper Jesus Bautista has also been solid and has four shutouts this season and sophomore backup Saul Davis has been big as well when called upon as he also has worked a shutout this year.
Centennial will bring a 112-2 record into the Wednesday night’s game in Roswell and the Knights were 8-2 in their Region. They ended the regular season Thursday night with a 4-1 loss to Chattahoochee in a game that decided the Region 6-5A championship.
The winner of the CalhounCentennial contest will play the winner of the EastsideMidtown next Wednesday in the Sweet 16.
After Cass, Dalton was second in the Region 7-5A and the Catamounts begin the playoffs Wednesday night at Kell. Calhoun was third in the league and Woodland was the fourth place team and they kick off the playoffs at Chattahoochee.
CALHOUN GIRLS
The Lady Yellow Jackets are in the playoffs for the fourth consecutive year and had a huge challenge in front
of them Tuesday night in their opening-round match at Cambridge.
The Bears were the undefeated Region champions this season and have not lost a league game for the past three years. In that timespan, they have also won 39 games, but they have also lost in the first round of the playoffs the past two years. And just two years ago, the Lady Bears reached the 5A state semifinals before they were lost 1-0 to Lassiter.
For the Lady Yellow Jackets, they were streaky this year and will take an 8-7 record overall into the playoffs.
They have had a threegame win streak and a pair of two-game win streaks this season while also having a pair of two-game losing skids.
The Jackets are a young team with just three seniors and two juniors listed on their roster, but they had five freshmen starting last year when they made the playoffs, so they have quite a few underclassmen who understand what the GHSA playoffs are all about.
Calhoun has also been very potent offensively in its wins, having scored at least four goals in each of their eight victories and they finished the season with 50 goals. Their high point was 10 goals in a 10-0 win over Gordon Central early in the season.
The Swarm also had a balanced attack among some young players with sophomores Kaylie Holmes and Regina Campa their leading goal scorers, along with senior Jenna Brannon. But head coach Taylor Sumrall has several others who can finish shots as well as 10 different players have goals this season with eight of them freshmen and sophomores.
Besides those three, sophomores Allie Chase, Mia Stokes and Alexa Vigil have contributed multiple goals so they were hoping to hit the Bears with a few different weapons Tuesday night.
The Jackets’ defense was not bad either, allowing 37 scores in those same 15 games.
Sophomore goalie Catherine Wells with the help of the girls in front of her, has shut out five different teams
this year and they entered the playoffs looking to shut down every one they get the opportunity to go against.
Calhoun last played the Friday before spring break began, hosting powerful Wesleyan and losing 7-0, but they won their two games before that, closing Region 7-5A with a 4-1 win over Cass to clinch a playoff berth and then defeating Heritage, 4-0, in the final game in March, so they had won two of their last three going into the game against Cambridge.
The Dalton girls were the 7-5A champions and they hosted Northview Tuesday night in their first-round match-up and Cartersville was second, entertaining Chattahoochee in their playoff starter. Woodland came in third in the Region and the Wildcats took on Greater Atlanta Christian (GAC) Tuesday night with Calhoun then fourth.
The winner of the CalhounCambridge match will face the winner of the Clarke Central-Villa Rica next Tuesday evening in the second round of the 5A state playoffs.