Georgia Highlands College softball dropped a home doubleheader Sunday afternoon to conference-leading Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College. The visiting Fillies (31-15, 15-3 GCAA) won the first game 3-2 and closed out the second game, 16-4. Annsley Todd had one hit in each game for the Chargers including a double and one RBI. Hailey Cronic also finished with one hit in each game. Audrey Johnson contributed a pair of hits in the second game including a two-run home run. Five other Chargers had one hit each in the doubleheader including Madison Dennis, Allison Deweese (RBI), Kyndal Brown, and Bradey Tharp (RBI). Gracee Ellis (7 IP, 3ER, 9H, 1BB, 2K) pitched well in Game 1 but suffered the tough luck loss in the circle. Haley Robinson (3.1 IP, 7R, 5ER, 7H, 2BB, 2K) was the losing pitcher in the second game. Katie Traynor (1.1 IP, 3R, 0ER, 2H, 1BB) and Emma Veitch (1.1 IP, 6R, 0ER, 1H, 2BB). Georgia Highlands (11-33, 4-12) plays a conference doubleheader at East Georgia Tuesday and will host South Georgia in a twin bill next Sunday at 1 p.m. at Stars Field.

Atlanta residents Franco Castro and Tyler Gruca teamed for rounds of 63-63-65—191 (25-under-par) to win the 50th Georgia State Golf Association Four Ball Championship hosted locally this past Friday through Sunday. The 54-hole championship was conducted at the 6,988-yard, par 72 Cartersville Country Club. Castro played collegiately at LSU and Charlotte. He also served as the men’s golf assistant coach at Rutgers. Gruca, an Alpharetta native, played collegiately at Georgia State. While the Atlanta duo captured the prestigious title, local players faired well also. There were six teams with local connections to finished in the championship’s top twenty. Chad Branton (Cartersville) and Christian Raynor (Kennesaw) finished tied for second at 21-under-par. The duo fired rounds of 65 all three days. The pairing of Erik Martin (Atlanta) and Stephen Behr (Alpharetta) plus the team of Price Miller (Atlanta) and William Love (Atlanta) also tied for second place. Other top finishes with local connections included Greg Johnson (Cartersville) and Cres Dodd (Calhoun). They finished in fifth place with rounds of 65-66-66—197 (19-under-par). Andy Burris and Chase Jones — both of Cartersville — tied for seventh at 199 (17-under-par). The local duo improved each day with rounds of 70-66-63. Lee Bowman, a Cartersville Country Club member from Atlanta, paired with Matt Stauch of Marietta to tie for 11th (68-66-67) at 15-under-par while Kyle Hosick (Cartersville) and William Hamilton (Calhoun) tied for 18th (67-67-69) with a 13-under-par 203. Eighty teams started the tournament Friday and Saturday with the field cut to the low 30 teams and ties after 36 holes. The cut line, survived by 32 teams, was at 6-under-par following Saturday’s round.

Cartersville Little League Majors baseball summaries for games played through Thursday, April 21. TUESDAY, APRIL 19 COLTS 26, BRAVES 2 COLTS: River Wade five hits including three doubles, one triple, five RBIs; Brant Rutledge two doubles, one triple, four RBIs; Wesley Gravley two hits including one double, three RBIs; Harris Pressley two hits including one double, three RBIs; Demetrius Wynn two hits, two RBIs; Andy Holstein one hit, two RBIs; Carsten Langhans one triple, one RBI; Jude Hamilton and Benjamin Milam one hit, one RBI each. Pitching: River Wade (2 IP, 2ER, 1H, 4BB, 3K); Andy Holstein (1 IP, 0R, 1BB). BRAVES: Micah Henderson and Easton Lee one hit each. Pitching: Easton Lee (1.1 IP, 4R, 2ER, 3H, 3BB, 3K); Micah Henderson (1.1 IP, 6R, 4ER, 4H, 1BB, 2K); Cade Rogan (0.1 IP, 7R, 6ER, 3H, 4BB, 1K); Maddox Henderson (1 IP, 9R, 8ER, 1BB, 2K). RANGERS 2, PADRES 1 RANGERS: Tyler Hickman two hits; Brayden Barnes one hit, one RBI; Caden McMullin and Xander Yanas one hit each. Pitching: Tyler Hickman (3.1 IP, 0R, 1H, 2BB, 6K); Emory Weaver (2.2 IP, 1ER, 2H, 2BB, 7K); Caden McMullin (1 IP, 0R, 0H, 3K). PADRES: Jackson Vaughan one hit, one RBI; Anthony Hunt one double; Corbin Mullinax one hit. Pitching: Parker Huth (5.2 IP, 1R, 0ER, 3H, 1BB, 10K); Corbin Mullinax (0.1 IP, 2R, 0ER, 2H, 1BB, 1K). PHILLIES 24, A’s 2 PHILLIES: Colton Dunagan three hits including one home run, four RBIs; Alek Higgons three hits including one triple, two RBIs; Owen Morneault two hits, three RBIs; Everett Owen two hits, two RBIs; Caiden Cline two hits, one RBI; Max Stepp, Blake Forstie, and Noah Leffew one hit, two RBIs each; Luke Thomson, Hudson Lovette, and Jayden Winston one hit, one RBI each. Pitching: Caiden Cline (3 IP, 2R, 0ER, 3H, 2BB, 3K). A’s: Cade McFarland, Zane Robertson, and Peyton Duren one hit each. Pitching: Peyton Duren (1 IP, 8ER, 7H, 2BB, 1K); Charlie Perkins (1 IP, 9ER, 5H, 5BB, 3K); Mason Davis (0.1 IP, 6ER, 4H, 2BB, 1K); Zane Robertson (0.2 IP, 1ER, 2H, 1K). TIGERS 7, DODGERS 2 TIGERS: Steven Tumlin two hits, two RBIs; Braxton Lemon two hits including one triple, one RBI; Cam Kachinsky and Logan Kemp one double, two RBIs each; Braxton Harkness and Will Phillips one hit each. Pitching: Will Phillips (5 IP, 2R, 0ER, 2H, 3BB, 13K); Braxton Lemon (1 IP, 0R, 0H). DODGERS: Noah Kearney two hits; Blake Genrich one double. Pitching: Jeremiah Huff (3.1 IP, 7ER, 6H, 2BB, 8K); Camden Jones (1.2 IP, 0R, 2H, 1K). THURSDAY, APRIL 21 TIGERS 10, DODGERS 3 TIGERS: Cam Kachinsky three hits including one triple, one double, four RBIs; Aiden Turner double, one RBI; Kolston Privett one hit, one RBI; Steven Tumlin one triple. Pitching: Braxton Lemon (5 IP, 3R, 1ER, 4H, 1BB, 10K); Kolston Privett (1 IP, 2K). DODGERS: Blake Genrich one double, one RBI; Camden Jones one double; Noah Kearney and Maddox Wilson one hit each; Gabriel Hullander one RBI. Pitching: Noah Kearney (1.2 IP, 6R, 0ER, 4H, 4K); Blake Genrich (3.1 IP, 1ER, 1H, 3BB, 9K); Asher Sito (0.2 IP, 3R, 2ER, 1H, 3BB, 1K); Benny Powell (0.1 IP). PHILLIES 8, A’s 6 PHILLIES: Luke Thomson two hits, one RBI; Caiden Cline two hits; Colton Dunagan one home run, two RBIs; Noah Leffew one hit, two RBIs; Hudson Lovette, Jayden Winston, Max Stepp, Owen Morneault one hit each; Blake Forstie two RBIs. Pitching: Everett Owen (2 IP, 1R, 0ER, 2H, 6K); Jayden Winston (1.1 IP, 4R, 2ER, 0H, 4BB, 3K); Noah Leffew (2.2 IP, 1ER, 4H, 7K). A’s: Mason Davis two hits, two RBIs; Bowen Hardy two hits including one double; Cade McFarland one double; Ethan Cortez one hit. Pitching: Bowen Hardy (5 IP, 8R, 6ER, 10H, 2BB, 4K). RANGERS 18, PADRES 1 RANGERS: Emory Weaver three hits; Easton Stephens and Caden McMullin two hits, two RBIs each; Tyler Hickman two hits including one double, two RBIs; Joel Rensch two hits including one double, one RBI; Brock Morris two hits, one RBI; Brooks Fulton one double, four RBIs; Will Groce one double. Pitching: Will Groce (2 IP, 0R, 2H, 2K); Brooks Fulton (1 IP, 0R, 1K); Easton Stephens (1 IP, 1R, 0ER, 2H, 2K). PADRES: Jackson Vaughan two hits including one double; Darren Cole one double; Jack McCurry one hit. Pitching: Darren Cole (2 IP, 7R, 2ER, 5H, 1BB, 2K); Corbin Mullinax (1.1 IP, 6R, 5ER, 4H, 2BB, 1K); Trey Smith (0.2 IP, 5R, 4ER, 6H, 1K). BRAVES 12, COLTS 4 Game data not provided. CARTERSVILLE LITTLE LEAGUE MAJOR STANDINGS (through games played Thursday, April 21) Rangers . . . . . . . 11-0 Phillies . . . . . . . . . 7-4 Tigers . . . . . . . . . . 7-4 Colts . . . . . . . . . . 6-5 Padres . . . . . . . . 6-5 Dodgers . . . . . . . 5-6 A’s . . . . . . . . . . . 1-10 Braves . . . . . . . . 1-10 Little League Major results are provided to Bartow Sports Zone by Cartersville Little League and Bartow County Little League. The game data is shared by the leagues via GameChanger reports from the respective teams and/or leagues. Results and capsules are sponsored on Bartow Sports Zone by The Benefit Consulting Group of Cartersville and George F. Willis Realty.

Franco Castro and Tyler Gruca of Atlanta shot a second round 63 to go with their opening round 63 to build a three-shot lead at the Georgia State Golf Association’s 50th Georgia Four-Ball Championship hosted by Cartersville Country Club. Two teams are tied for second after 36 holes. Dalton Melnyk and Tyler McKeever (62-67—129) of Atlanta along with Price Miller and William Love (66-63—129) of Atlanta are tied at 15-under-par. Chad Branton (Cartersville) and Christian Raynor (Kennesaw) are fourth (65-65—130) just four shots back. Greg Johnson (Cartersville) and Cres Dodd (Calhoun) are tied for fifth at 131 (65-66) along with the team of Erik Martin (Atlanta) and Stephen Behr (Alpharetta). Other local notable scores making the 36-hole cut: T12 — Kyle Hosick (Cartersville) and William Hamilton (Calhoun) — 67-67—134 T12 — Scott Davenport (Marietta) and Mike Heffner (Villa Rica) — 69-65— 134 T12 — Lee Bowman (Atlanta) and Matt Stauch (Marietta) — 68-66 — 134 T20 — Andy Burris (Cartersville) and Chase Jones (Cartersville) — 70-66— 136 The tournament concludes Sunday with the 32 teams that survived the 36-hole cut on the 6,988-yard, par-72 layout at Cartersville Country Club.

Georgia Highlands College baseball split a doubleheader at Gordon State Saturday and also split this week’s four-game series with the Highlanders. The Chargers dropped the first game of Saturday’s twin bill 6-5 and won the second game 8-5. Conner Todaro had three hits for Georgia Highlands in the doubleheader including a home run, a double, and four RBIs. Caden Smith had a pair of doubles. Ben Olson homered in the opener and finished with four RBIs. Five other Chargers had one hit each including Max Kops, Zayd Brannigan, Ethan Anderson (RBI), and Austin Tienda (RBI). David Smith and Mitchell Walker added one RBI each. Caleb Garner (4 IP, 1ER, 3H, 2BB, 1K) picked up the Game 2 pitching win for the Chargers in relief of Eric Moore (2 IP, 3R, 1ER, 1H, 3BB, 1K). Chandler Wood (1 IP, 1ER, 1BB) closed out the final frame on the mound. Zachary Murray (3 IP, 5ER, 4H, 3BB, 2K), Cason Rich (1 IP, 1ER, 1H), and Ryan Suppa (2 IP, 2K) pitched for GHC in Saturday’s first game. The split leaves Gordon State 19-21 overall and 9-11 in the Georgia Collegiate Athletic Association. Georgia Highlands (38-8, 14-6) hosts Andrew College Tuesday afternoon at 3 p.m.

Dalton Melnyk and Tyler McKeever, both of Atlanta, hold the first round lead of the 50th Georgia Four Ball Championship being hosted this weekend by Cartersville Country Club for the Georgia State Golf Association. Melnyk and McKeever fired an opening round 62 (10-under-par) on the 6,988-yard par-72 layout to lead fellow Atlantans Franco Castro and Tyler Gruca by one shot. Bob Royak of Alpharetta and Robert Sheats of Atlanta shot 64 and are tied for third with Brennan Manson (Dunwoody) and Davis Brainard (Brookhaven). A pair of teams with local connections are tied for fifth with four other pairs. Chad Branton (Cartersville) and Christian Raynor (Kennesaw) shot 65 along with Greg Johnson (Cartersville) and Cres Dodd (Calhoun). Other notable local scores: T15 - Kyle Hosick (Cartersville) and William Hamilton (Calhoun) 67 T41 - Andy Burris (Cartersville) and Chase Jones (Cartersville) 70 T41 - Blane Davis (Cartersville) and Brendan Hughes (Dalton) 70 T63 - Justin Johnson (Cartersville) and Jeremy Rieger (Canton) 72 T76 - Clay Heath (Cartersville) and Josh Ledford (Canton) 75 The 80 two-man teams will play their second round of the GSGA Four-Ball Championship Saturday with the low 30 teams and ties advancing to Sunday’s final round.

The Adairsville Tigers dropped their season finale’ Friday night at Rockmart, 8-1. Rockmart (20-6, 15-1) posted three runs in the third inning, three more in the fourth, and added two insurance runs in the sixth to lock down the win. The lone Adairsville run came in the third inning. The Yellow Jackets, who secured the No. 1 seed from Region 6-AAA, out hit the Tigers twelve to seven. PJ Weeks and Jack Whitley had two hits each for the Tigers. Dawson Craig, Landon O’Neal, and Grayson Belcher added one hit apiece for Adairsville. The Tigers finished the year with an 11-14 record. Adairsville finished 6-10 in region play.

In the second of four games with the Gordon State Highlanders this week, Georgia Highlands baseball lost at Barnesville Friday afternoon, 14-4. The Chargers scored twice in the top of the first inning for an early 2-0 lead but the Highlanders scored six runs in the fourth to take a lead they would not relinquish. GHC narrowed the score to 6-4 in the fifth but got no closer. A seven run seventh by Gordon ended the contest. Caden Smith homered for the Chargers in the loss. Ben Olson had a double and two RBIs. Conner Todaro finished with a hit and one RBI. Mick Moody, Parker Poteet, and Max Kops added one hit each. With the week-long series tied and one game each, Georgia Highlands (37-7, 13-5) and Gordon State (18-20, 8-10) will complete their series Saturday in Barnesville with a 1 p.m. doubleheader.

Georgia Highlands College softball split a doubleheader at Andrew College Friday. The Chargers lost the first game 7-3 and responded with an 8-0 win in Game 2. Haley Robinson tossed a complete game three hitter to pick up the Chargers’ pitching win in the second game. Robinson walked two and struck out one. The Chargers scored two runs in each of the first two innings to take an early 4-0 lead and added on runs in the fourth and sixth innings to secure the win. Hailey Cronic had three hits in the game including a pair of doubles and three RBIs. Annsley Todd and Madison Dennis contributed one hit and one RBI each. Taylor Justice added a double for the GHC offense. In the opening game loss for the Chargers, Allison Deweese had two hits including a solo home run. Robinson doubled and homered. Todd contributed two hits. Kyndal Brown tossed in one hit and Justice added one RBI with a sacrifice fly. Gracee Ellis (6 IP, 7R, 1ER, 6H, 1BB, 3K) suffered the pitching loss. Georgia Highlands (11-31, 3-10) hosts ABAC Sunday at Stars Field in a 1 p.m. doubleheader.

Rockmart pushed across a pair of come-from-behind runs in the top of the seventh inning Thursday night at Adairsville to edge the Tigers, 5-4. Adairsville led 4-3 after three innings and the lead held until the final frame when a Yellow Jackets base hit, a hit batsman, an error, and a pair of passed balls put Rockmart ahead to stay. Braden Powell (2 IP, 2R, 0ER, 1H, 1BB, 4K) suffered the tough-luck pitching loss in relief of starter Brenden Carroll (5 IP, 3ER, 7H, 1K). PJ Weeks had three hits and drove in one run for Adairsville. Chris Roper and Evan Sanders finished with two hits each. Powell contributed one hit, a sacrifice fly, and two RBIs. Jack Whitley added a double and Peyton Bowen was credited with one RBI. Adairsville (11-13, 6-9) concludes the season Friday at region-leading Rockmart (19-6, 14-1).

Cartersville baseball entered the final week of the regular season ranked No. 1 in Class 5A and will head into the 2022 state playoffs in that position following a three-game sweep of the Hiram Hornets. The Canes, who blanked the Hornets at home Tuesday night 15-0, swept Thursday night’s doubleheader at Hiram 19-0 and 12-2. Cartersville also wrapped up the No. 1 seed from Region 7-5A in the upcoming GHSA State Playoffs. As a top seed, the Hurricanes will be guaranteed to host at least the first two rounds of the state playoffs should they get through the opening round. The losses dropped the Hornets to 2-25 on the year and 0-15 in region play. In Thursday evening’s first game, Cartersville pitchers Caden Carroll (2 IP, 0R, 0H, 0BB, 5K) and Cal Goss (1 IP, 0R, 0H, 1BB, 1K) combined for an abbreviated three inning no-hitter. Elliott Eastin had three hits including a double and two RBIs in the opener. Caleb Daniel followed with two hits including a double and four RBIs. Drew Rothschild also contributed two hits including a double with three RBIs. Harrison Childers smacked a grand slam home run in the second inning and Blake Sutton blasted a three run home run in the first inning. Hank Smith (RBI) and Paul Gamble added one hit each for the Canes. In Game 2, Hiram took a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning before the Canes erupted for a dozen unanswered runs over the next four frames. Starting pitcher Colt McKibben (3 IP, 2R, 1ER, 1H, 1BB, 5K) plus relievers Geoffrey Gore (1 IP, 0R, 1H, 1K), and Tyler Williams (1 IP, 0R, 0H, 2K) combined to strike out eight in five innings. Trip Bradley had a double and a triple in the second game with two RBIs. Jimbo Gaines also had two hits and one RBI. Isaac McNair-Seigler (double, 2 RBIs), Gavin Shrewsbury (double, RBI), Miles Owen (RBI), Pearse Mullinax (RBI), and Ryan Johnson contributed one hit each. Kaden Stephenson and Landon Cole added one RBI apiece. Cartersville (23-5, 14-1) will host the No. 4-seed from Region 5-5A, the Chamblee Bulldogs (15-12), next Wednesday in the first round of the Class 5A state playoffs. The best-of-three series will begin with a doubleheader. If a third game is needed, it will also be hosted at Richard Bell Field on Thursday. Start times for all games will be determined later this weekend.

Woodland’s Ayden Ray and Cass’ Bentley Markley both homered and drove in two runs each, but it was a walk-off fielder’s choice off the bat of Jakiyon Porter in the bottom of the seventh that lifted host Woodland past Cass 3-2 in Thursday evening’s first game. The win by the Wildcats secured a Class 5A state playoff berth for Woodland and eliminated the Colonels from state playoff contention. Chase Carson, who also finished with two hits, scored the game winning run on Porter’s ground ball to short. Conner Stermer also had two hits including a double for the Wildcats. Stermer (1 IP, 0R, 0H, 1BB) collected the pitching win by working a scoreless top of the seventh. Hunter Shirley (6 IP, 2ER, 4H, 2BB, 5K) started on the mound for Woodland and struck out five. Hayden Cole (1.1 IP, 2ER, 2H, 2BB, 3K) took the pitching loss for Cass in relief of starter Cayden Roberts (5 IP, 1ER, 4H, 2BB, 2K). Cole, Chase Botts, and Andrew Middleton added one hit each for the Colonels. In Game 2, Woodland scored nine runs in the first two innings then added four runs late to complete a three-game sweep of Cass 13-6. Rowan Billings had two hits including a double and three RBIs to lead the Woodland offense in the nightcap. Nine other Wildcats added one hit each including Hunter Shirley, Jacob Gravett (double, 3 RBIs), Jakiyon Porter, Julian Wright, Zach Lambert (RBI), Conner Stermer, Bret Good, Austin Sanders, and Noah Herring. Nate Rosser drove in one run. The Woodland pitching duties were spread among seven different hurlers. Nate Rosser (0.2 IP, 1ER, 0H, 4BB), Logan Bentley (1.1 IP, 1ER, 2H), Jacob Gravett (1 IP, 1R, 0ER, 1H, 2K), Jackson Rutledge (1 IP, 2ER, 2H, 1BB), Ayden Ray (1 IP, 0R, 0H, 2K), Coby Barrett (1 IP, 0R, 0H, 1K), and Austin Sanders (1 IP, 1R, 0ER, 0H, 2BB, 2K) all pitched for the Wildcats. Aiden Larkin had two hits for Cass in Game 2 including a triple. Connor Jenkins hit a solo home run in the second inning. Carson Hill (RBI) and Hayden Cole contributed one hit each. Nic Wright, Wesley Collins, and Chase Botts added one RBI apiece. Similar to Woodland, Cass utilized five pitchers in the finale’. Chase Botts (1 IP, 6ER, 2H, 3BB, 1K), Devan Hutchinson (1.2 IP, 3R, 1ER, 3H, 1BB, 2K), Aiden Larkin (1.1 IP, 0R, 3H, 1K), Hunter Lovett (1 IP, 1ER, 1H, 2BB, 2K), and Connor Jenkins (1 IP, 3R, 1ER, 2H, 1BB, 3K) all pitched for the Colonels. Cass finished the season 5-25 overall and 4-11 in Region 7-5A. Woodland (14-16, 7-8) advances to the GHSA State Playoffs as a No. 4 seed. The Wildcats will open the state playoffs next Wednesday at St. Pius X. The Golden Lions (20-9, 15-1) are the Region 5-5A champions. The best-of-three first round series will begin with a doubleheader. If a third game is needed, it will be played at St. Pius X on Thursday. Starting times will be determined later this week.