Middle School Baseball: Trojans stay unbeaten in NGAC play

The Gordon Lee Trojans made it three straight wins in three straight days last week as they took down Heritage, Rossville and Chattanooga Valley in succession to boost their record to 5-1 overall and 5-0 in NGAC play.

Gordon Lee 8, Heritage 0

The Trojans began the week on Tuesday, scoring early and often before going on to a rain-shortened win over the Generals in Ringgold.

Most of the damage was done in the third inning as the Trojans jumped all over the home team for three runs. Three walks and solid base hitting capped a dominant pair of innings, which began in the second when Cody Thomas ignited the Trojans and drew a walk.

“It was probably four or five hitters down before they even received their first out of the inning,” Trojans head coach Jeff Guffey said. “That was a big inning. Third inning was key though—base on balls and singles advanced all the runners around, so it was a pretty productive third inning for sure.”

Starting pitcher Jake Poindexter kept Heritage at bay, giving up just one hit and three walks, while tossing five strikeouts in the shutout.

“Jake has put in a lot of work,” Guffey added. “I’m proud of him going five innings or so, but we normally keep our pitchers on a very short leash when it comes to pitch counts. He was dialed in. Midway through the second or third inning, his pitch count was low. He was feeling great and he wanted it, so we kept him in. I’m very proud of him.”

Brody Cobb went 2-for-3. Jacob Neal was a perfect 3-for-3 with three singles, while Grayson Smith and Tanner Wilson were each 1-for-3. Cade Peterson added a key double in the fourth inning and the Trojans put the ball in play eight total times.

Gordon Lee 10, Rossville 1

The following afternoon, the Trojans got seven strikeouts and just one walk out of pitcher Dylan Burnett through four innings as they beat the Bulldogs in a league game.

Gordon Lee got two hits and a walk from Neal and also got hits from Brody Cobb, Peterson, Smith and Jackson Moore. Moore, Cobb and Will Carswell all had RBIs in the win.

Smith worked the final three innings in relief, allowing three hits and striking out one.

Hudson Couch had a hit and swiped three bases for the Bulldogs. Andrew Riders had two

stolen bases. Robert Jent and Isaac Pitts each had one hit and one stolen base, while Aiden Raymer and Nathan Ruppel had one hit apiece.

Gordon Lee 11, Chattanooga Valley 1

The Trojans picked up its final win of the week on Thursday as Poindexter led the hit parade by going 3-for-4 with three runs batted in. Carswell went 2-for3 and drew a walk. He finished with two RBIs. Peterson, Neal, Thomas, Burnett and Austin Daniel each added one hit.

Daniel and Cobb combined to striking out eight Eagles and give up just two hits.

Chattanooga Valley 13, Saddle Ridge 1

The Eagles got three hits and three RBIs from Jacob Klein in a big victory over the Mustangs last Monday. The game was tied 1-1 after one inning, but the Eagles began to slowly pull away in the subsequent innings and blew the game open with six runs in the top of the seventh.

Jordan McLin also had a hit for the Valley, who had six stolen bases as a team.

Ethan Kruger had a hit and swiped two bases for the Mustangs.

Lakeview 6, Saddle Ridge 0

Isaiah Blackburn struck out 11 hitters and allowed just one hit in the Warriors’ win Tuesday in Fort Oglethorpe.

Blake Thompson provided the only hit for the Mustangs. Chris Bell took the loss on the hill. He threw six innings, giving up six runs on nine hits. He finished with two strikeouts.

Trion 23, Saddle Ridge 8

The Mustangs and Bulldogs battled in a slugfest at LaFayette High School on Thursday with the Bulldogs erupting late to post the win.

Dakota Catlett had two hits for Saddle Ridge (0-4), including a double. He scored once and drove in two runs. Thompson had a double and knocked in two, while Kruger and Nick Radtke each had a hit and an RBI.

Cole Canfield, Reese Elliott and Avery Sullivan had the other hits for the Mustangs.

LaFayette 4, Rossville 0

Davis Richardson allowed just two hits, one walk and struck out 14 Bulldog hitters as the Ramblers picked up a home win over Rossville on last Tuesday.

The Ramblers had eight hits as they improved to 2-2 on the year. Richardson helped himself with a pair of singles, a walk and a RBI. Blake Mann had a single, double, an RBI and scored once, while Cade Fisher went 2-for- 2, drew two walks and knocked in a run.

Kendall Culbreth had a hit and an RBI, while Culbreath, Ross Martin and Carson Jenkins each scored once.

Aiden Raymer suffered the loss for Rossville. He threw six innings, giving up four runs on eight hits. He finished with just one strikeout.

Pitts was 1-for-3 with a pair of stolen bases, while Jacob Ross had the other hit for the Bulldogs.

Dade County 4, Rossville 3

A tough week for the Bulldogs came to a close on Thursday as they fell to the Wolverines at home.

Tied 1-1 going into the fifth inning, Dade pushed home a run to take the lead. But a bases-loaded double by Ross plated two runs and put the Bulldogs back in front in the bottom of the sixth.

However, Rossville couldn’t hold the lead as Dade scratched home the tying and go-ahead runs in the top of the seventh then held on in the bottom of the seventh to secure the win.

Jent went 2-for-3 for Rossville (1-4) in the loss, while Houston “Butch” Henry was 1-for-3. Couch and Raymer each had a stolen base.