Gordon Lee, Ringgold to clash for NGAC baseball crown
The North Georgia Athletic Conference pared its season-ending baseball tournament down to two teams last week and it will be the Gordon Lee Trojans and Ringgold Tigers.
It will mark the second straight NGAC baseball tournament final between the two rivals. The Tigers won the championship last year, while the Trojans are looking to cap an undefeated campaign with a title this time around.
The best-of-three final series was slated to begin with a doubleheader on Monday of this week with Game 3, if needed, to be played on Tuesday.
Due to newspaper deadlines, results were not available in today’s edition. Coverage can be found in the May 15 edition or on our website at northwestgeorgianews.com.
Lafayette 6, Trion 5
Last Tuesday night, the Ramblers advanced to the NGAC semifinals, but not before outlasting the Bulldogs in 11 pressure-packed innings.
Nick Adams ripped his fourth double of the contest to set the table in the bottom of the 11th inning with no outs. The game would end shortly thereafter as he sprinted home on Austin Tucker’s game-winning Rbi-single to center.
Adams finished 4-for-6 and scored three times. Zach Barrett had a double and scored, while Sam Hall added an Rbi-single. Barrett, Adams and Zain Smith combined to allow just three hits and nine walks with six strikeouts on the mound. Jayden Dixon would get credit for the win. He threw the final three innings, surrendering just two hits and a walk with two strikeouts.
Heritage 6, Lakeview 1
The Generals scored four times in the bottom of the first inning last Tuesday and advanced to the semifinals of the NGAC baseball playoffs with a home victory over Lakeview. The Generals pushed across two more runs in the bottom of the fourth inning, while the only run of the game for the Warriors came in the top of the fifth.
Heritage had nine hits on the day. Zach Barrett had a double as one of his two hits and he finished with two RBIS. Max Owens had one hit and knocked in a pair of runs. J.J. Hunt went 2-for-4 and scored twice, while Brady Chandler and
Garrison May had one RBI each.
Landon Skeen got the win on the hill. He threw the first five innings, allowing one earned run on two hits and five walks with seven strikeouts. May and Hunt each threw an inning of relief and each struck out one batter.
For Lakeview, Jacob Gregg, Dylan Blankenship and Tanner Mantooth all had singles. Blankenship pitched all six innings, allowing six earned runs on nine hits and three walks. He ended the day with four strikeouts.
Ringgold 4, Heritage 1
In Game 1 of the semifinals at Ringgold on Thursday, the Tigers scored solo runs in the bottom of the first and second innings and answered a solo run by the Generals in the top of the fourth with two more runs of their own in the bottom of the fifth.
Ringgold finished with eight hits in the game, including two each by Ross Norman and Myles Hudson. Both players also scored a run, while Hudson and Ty Gilbert had one RBI each.
Sam Crew pitched the first five innings. He allowed five hits and two walks with four strikeouts. The run he allowed was unearned. Norman threw the last two innings and walked two batters.
Skeen had a pair of hits for Heritage. J.C. Armour also had a hit, while Owens knocked in the lone run of the game for the Generals. May pitched 4.2 innings. He allowed three earned runs on seven hits. He did not walk a batter and finished with five strikeouts. Barrett pitched 1.1 innings of relief, allowing one hit and fanning two.
Ringgold 4, Heritage 1
In Game 2, the Tigers jumped out to a 3-0 lead and tacked on an insurance run in the top of the seventh, while the Generals once again scored their only run in the fourth inning.
Crew was 2-for-3 with an RBI. Norman had a double and knocked in two runs, while Dawsyn Ware had a hit and an RBI.
Sebastian Haggard pitched four innings of four-hit ball. He allowed just the one earned run with one walk and three strikeouts. Norman pitched an inning of relief, giving up a hit, but striking out three, while Gilbert struck out five and walked one in two innings of work.
Armour and Gage Shaver had two hits each. Shaver had a double and an RBI, while Chandler had the other hit for Heritage.
Hunt pitched the first three innings for the Generals. He gave up three earned runs on three hits and a walk with four strikeouts. Eli Totherow pitched three innings of two-hit ball with one strikeout, while Taylor Vinson gave up an unearned run on a walk and a hit in one inning of relief. He finished with three strikeouts.
Gordon Lee 15, Lafayette 0
Playing at Ridgeland High School on Thursday, due to the Gordon Lee High School team’s state playoff series, the Trojans pushed home two runs in the bottom of the first inning, but erupted for 13 runs in the bottom of the second as they finished off a three-inning victory over the Ramblers.
Nate Dunfee scored three times and drove in five runs, including an inside-the-park grand slam. Conner Whitman had one hit, but picked up three RBIS in the victory. Brodie Genter was 2-for-3 with two RBIS. Hunter Holmes had a double and knocked in a run, while Kade Cowan and Bo Rhudy had one RBI each.
Rhudy pitched a three-inning no-hitter with eight strikeouts, while Austin Tucker took the loss for Lafayette.
Gordon Lee 16, Lafayette 0
Game 2 saw the Trojans, playing as the visiting team, score in every single inning. They pushed home five runs in the second inning and six in the fourth to finish off a fiveinning, run-rule victory.
All 13 of Gordon Lee’s hits were singles and they also added seven stolen bases as a team. Genter had two hits, scored twice and drove in two runs. Rhudy had a pair of hits and scored twice, while Cooper Jackson and Ty Forester both had a pair of hits, a pair of runs scored and one RBI.
Cowan knocked in three runs in the victory. Dunfee, Holmes and Aiden Goodwin all had two RBIS each, while Whitman knocked in one run.
Genter pitched three innings, giving up four hits and walk with one strikeout. Cowan pitched the final two innings and allowed two hits. He finished with two strikeouts.
Smith and Barrett each had two hits for the Ramblers, while Adams and Hall had one hit apiece. Barrett allowed just two earned runs in five innings of work. He walked three batters in finished with three strikeouts.