Bulldogs pick up a pair of wins in Battle
Spring Break was anything but a week off for Cedartown baseball. The Bulldogs went back to work last week in the Battle for Bartow, playing three solid teams in similar classifications at LakePoint Sports.
Cedartown opened the showcase in Emerson on Thursday night with a showdown versus Ringgold, a perennial power in Class 3A. The Tigers struck for two runs in the top of the third before the Bulldogs responded with a big fifth inning. Eli Barrow singled to drive in courtesy runner Matthew Henslee, and consecutive passed balls with the bases loaded allowed Dylan Cupp and Chance White to come around and score. Thanks to shut-down pitching from Jay O’Neal and Britt Baxter, the three-spot in the bottom of the fifth was all Cedartwon needed to score a 3-2 victory over Ringgold.
Barrow was 1-for-2 with one run batted in against the Tigers. The only other Bulldogs to record a hit were O’Neal (1-2) and MJ Holiday (1-2). Cupp and Henslee did not tally a base-hit but did touch home plate in the win.
O’Neal was masterful again on the mound. The freshman ace surrendered two earned runs in five innings on four hits and one walk. Baxter pitched in relief and did not allow a single baserunner. O’Neal rang up four batters while Baxter struck out five.
After garnering only four hits versus Ringgold, the Cedartown offense mustered just three against Locust Grove on Friday afternoon. Dylan Cupp drilled a pitch beyond the left field wall in the first inning. His first varsity home run gave CHS a 1-0 lead, an advantage that would remain until late in the contest. The Wildcats, one of the top teams in Class 5A, rallied to tie it in the bottom of the sixth and sent the game into extra innings. In the bottom of the eighth, an errant throw from Cedartown’s defense that would have sent the game into the ninth instead sailed over the first baseman’s head and allowed Locust Grove to walk it off and earn a 2-1 triumph.
Cupp finished 2-for-3 with a solo
homer in the one-run loss to Locust Grove. MJ Holiday also had a hit and finished 1-for-3 against the Wildcats.
MJ Holiday started the game and struck out two batters in two innings pitched. Baxter entered in relief in the third and went five innings, giving up just two hits and one walk. He added six K’s as well. Xavier Holiday pitched in the eighth inning and allowed one hit. Both runs that Locust Grove scored were unearned.
Fortunately for the Cedartown fans that made the trip to Bartow County on Friday, the Red-and-Black bounced back in a big way on Friday night. After that narrow loss to Locust Grove CHS responded with a sizable victory over Woodland-Cartersville, a likely playoff team in Class 5A.
An RBI double from Eli Barrow put the Bulldogs on the board in the top of the third when Cole Cochran touched home plate, making it a 1-0 game. The lead increased the following inning when singles by Xavier Holiday and Tony Ware and a Dylan Cupp double drove in four runs. Though Woodland would make it interesting with a two-run sixth, Cedartown put the foot on the accelerator in the top of the seventh inning and added four insurance runs. CHS took advantage of walks in the seventh, as the four runs scored on a Cole Dingler single, an Xavier Holiday double, a sacrifice fly from Ware, and a bases-loaded hitby-pitch. A quick home-half of the seventh solidified the 9-2 win for Cedartown, who finished the week at LakePoint with a 2-1 record.
Cupp (2-3, 2B, RBI, R), O’Neal (2-3, 2 R), Ware (2-4, 2 R), and Xavier Holiday (2-4, 2B, 3 RBI, 2 R) had multi-hit games in the finale versus the Wildcats. Barrow (1-3, 2B, RBI, R) and Dingler (1-5, R) also recorded hits against Woodland pitching. Denver Nale and Dakota Matthews were hitless but scored, and MJ Holiday tallied one RBI in the victory.
Xavier Holiday started Saturday’s showdown with the Bartow County ‘Cats. He threw four scoreless innings, striking out five and surrendered just a single hit. Henslee pitched two innings in relief and allowed one earned run on three hits and three walks. The junior struck out two batters in his appearance. Freshman left-hander Samuel Formby entered in the seventh, giving up one hit and one walk before closing the door on Woodland.
Following Thursday and Friday’s trips to Emerson, the Bulldogs are now 16-7 on the year. They were the lone team in Region 7-4A to not play a league series last week, but still remain in first with a 10-2 record. Heritage-Catoosa (159, 8-4) remains second in the standings despite losing two of their three games last week against Northwest Whitfield (1310, 7-5). In other Region 7-4A action, fourth-place CentralCarroll (15-8, 7-5) won two of three contests over Ridgeland (7-12, 3-9), and Pickens (14-9, 9-6), now third in the region, swept Southeast Whitfield (323, 1-14).
Cedartown continues their pursuit of a second straight Region 7-4A title this week as region play resumes. The Bulldogs host last-place Southeast Whitfield at Cedartown High School on Tuesday afternoon. First pitch is set for 5:30 p.m. in Polk County. CHS will then make the trip to Dalton on Friday for a doubleheader against the Raiders with games starting at 5 and 7 p.m.