While Cartersville native and current Pittsburgh Pirates' relief pitcher Sam Howard continues to recover from an oblique strain, two other former Hurricanes made some offensive noise this week for their respective MiLB clubs. Anthony Seigler had a two home run game for his division-leading Hudson Valley Renegades and Connor Justus had a .400 batting average for the week in five starts for his Pensacola Blue Wahoos club. PRO BASEBALL SAM HOWARD — Pittsburgh Pirates (8th-year pro; Cartersville HS) … the 28-year-old lefty reliever landed on the IL July 13 due to a right oblique strain. Reports have Howard doing some throwing with an expected mid-August return to the Pirates. The former Georgia Southern Eagle is 2-2 in 29 and 2/3 innings this season across 38 appearances. He has nine holds with a 5.76 ERA and has recorded 41 strikeouts. CONNOR JUSTUS — Pensacola Blue Wahoos (6th-year pro; Miami Marlins organization; Cartersville HS)… started five games last week going 6-for-15 with a double, two RBIs, a walk, and one stolen base. Since arriving back at Double-A Pensacola at the beginning of July from Triple A Jacksonville, the former Georgia Tech Yellow Jacket has hit .197 (13-for-66) with 10 walks and six RBIs. The Blue Wahoos are 39-39 and trail the South Division leading Mississippi Braves by five games in MiLB’s Double-A South. Pensacola plays a six-game series at Biloxi Tuesday through Sunday. LUKE SCHILTZ - AZL Rangers (Texas Rangers organization; 3rd year pro; Cartersville native; Stoneman Douglas HS, FL). . . made his third appearance of the Arizona Complex League season Saturday during an 8-1 win over the ACL Angels. The 6-5, 21-year-old allowed a hit, but retired the other three batters he faced — one by strikeout — in the stint. The right hand pitcher has now worked 2-1/3 innings with three strikeouts and an 11.57 ERA. The ACL Rangers (10-11) are in 8th place in the 18-team league and have games this week against the Indians, Rockies, Dodgers, D-backs, Angels, and Royals Blue. ANTHONY SEIGLER — Hudson Valley Renegades (4th-year pro; New York Yankees organization; Cartersville HS)… the 22-year-old, 2018 draft first round pick made five starts last week in a home series against the Wilmington Blue Rocks. He was 3-for-17 at the plate with a pair of home runs, three walks, and five RBIs. Both homers were in Tuesday’s 5-4 loss with his solo shot in the second inning and two-run blast in the fourth inning giving Hudson Valley a 3-0 lead at the time. In 141 official at-bats this season, the switch-hitting catcher is batting .199 with four home runs, 16 extra base hits, and 24 RBIs. The Renegades (50-28) continue to lead the High Class A East, North Division by 10-1/2 games over Aberdeen. They play a six-game series Tuesday through Sunday at the Brooklyn Cyclones.

While his fellow local professional baseball players work their way through the dog days of summer, former Cartersville High pitcher Sam Howard continues to rehab an oblique injury. The Pittsburgh reliever has been on the shelf since July 13. The latest update revealed that Howard has been playing catch but hasn't yet resumed throwing off a mound. The 28-year-old is slated to return to the Pirates sometime in August. Sam Howard - Pittsburgh Pirates (8th-year pro; Cartersville HS) — The southpaw is expected to resume throwing later this week. Howard has been in shutdown mode since landing on the IL on July 13 due to a right oblique strain, but he's about ready to begin ramping up again. The 28-year-old left-handed reliever probably won't be ready to return to the Pirates before mid-to-late August. Connor Justus - Pensacola Blue Wahoos (6th-year pro; Miami Marlins organization; Cartersville HS) — Justus went 0-for-12 with three walks in four games last week at Montgomery. He scored one run and had one RBI. The 26-year-old now has 169 official at-bats in split time between Pensacola and Triple-A Jacksonville. His batting average stands at .154 with one home run and eight extra-base hits, including 16 RBIs. The Blue Wahoos (37-35) host the Mississippi Braves (40-32) Tuesday through Sunday in a six-game series. Luke Schiltz - AZL Rangers (Texas Rangers organization; 3rd year pro; Cartersville native; Stoneman Douglas HS, FL) — Schiltz has seen action on the mound in two Arizona League games, working two-thirds of an inning in his July 13 and July 20 stints. The right-hander has yielded seven runs (three earned) on three hits and three walks with a pair of strikeouts. The AZL Rangers (8-8) have games in the coming week against the affiliates of Seattle, Kansas City and the L.A. Angels. Anthony Seigler - Hudson Valley Renegades (4th-year pro; New York Yankees organization; Cartersville HS) — In four games at Aberdeen last week, the switch-hitting catcher was 4-for-19 with two walks, a double and three RBIs. For the season, the Yankees' 2018 first-round selection has a .202 batting average in 124 official at-bats. He has a pair of home runs and 19 RBIs with 14 extra-base hits. The Renegades (47-25) remain in first place by 8.5 games in the High-A East's North Division. Hudson Valley plays a six-game home series with Wilmington (29-43) this week. — Nicholas Sullivan of The Daily Tribune News contributed to this report.

Author: Jonathan Raymond (11Alive) / 11alive.com TOKYO, Japan — Georgia native Brody Malone got the job done on Saturday morning as he began his quest for Olympic glory qualifying for the men's gymnastics individual all-around final. Malone competed with his USA men's gymnastics teammates as they sought to qualify for the team final. Their individual performances also counted toward qualifying for the all-around final and the various single apparatus finals. The Chattooga County native and former Cartersville Twisters gymnast struggled some, going out of bounds on his floor routine and registering the 39th-best score in that discipline. He also scored in the 13s (13.733) on the pommel horse, the 28th-best individual score. But a dynamite showing on the horizontal bar (14.533, fourth-highest) and solid performances on the vault (14.533), rings (14.200) and parallel bars (14.633) lifted his total. After his vault, which clinched his place in the all-around final, the NBC announcers marveled at how he looked "cool, calm and collected" he looked and said he was "just such an impressive athlete." The top eight scores on each apparatus qualified for the final, meaning Malone will have a shot to go for a medal on the horizontal bar on Aug. 3. His overall score of 85.298 was highest among his USA teammates, 11th overall for the morning, comfortably qualifying him among the top-24 to compete next Wednesday, July 28 in the men's all-around final. The USA men as a team, meanwhile, compiled a total score of 256.761 to finish fourth in qualifying behind Japan, China and Russia (the Russians are technically competing under the designation of "Russian Olympic Committee" because of sanctions preventing them from officially playing under their country's name and flag.) Only two members from each team are allowed to compete in the all-around final, so even though both Yul Moldauer and Shane Wiskus ranked within the to-24, only Malone's teammate Samuel Mikulak will be joining him in the all-around final.

Bartow County Little League baseball’s 12U team made a great run at the 2021 Georgia Little League State Tournament, but came up short in the finals falling to Northern Little League of Columbus. As the unbeaten team heading into Friday’s finals of the double-elimination tournament, Bartow needed one win to capture the state title. Northern took the opening game 11-5 and scored two sixth inning runs in the nightcap to win 4-2. The two wins Friday night for Northern completed a string of wins in six consecutive elimination games. The Columbus squad lost its opening game of the tournament last Saturday to Peachtree City, 10-0. Northern then reeled off wins over Elbert County (9-1), Athens (13-4), Warner Robins (6-4), and Peachtree City (6-2) just to reach the finals. The 2021 state title for Northern is the league’s seventh since 1990. Northern also won state titles in 1990, 2004, 2006, 2010, 2013, and 2014. The 2006 team went on to win the Southeast Regional and the Little League World Series — defeating Japan 2-1 in the LLWS title game. The loss for Bartow County continued a lengthy streak for the winners of District 1 in Georgia. The district only has one state champion in history. That was Rome Little League in 1953. Bartow reached Friday’s championship by reeling off three straight wins in the tournament. The locals had wins over Warner Robins (3-2), Athens (9-8), and Peachtree City (13-4). GAME 1 NORTHERN 11, BARTOW 5 Northern pitcher Jaycob Veloz kept Bartow hitters off balance most of the night in a complete game effort. The right-hander scattered nine hits and did not issue a walk while striking out four. He also drove in four runs with his bat going 2-for-4. Gabe Galarza also had two hits for Northern. Cam Carino tripled, Hudson Clark and Braxton Wilkinson both doubled. Harrison Serna contributed one hit and two RBIs. Aiden Bowman had a hit and one RBI in his only at-bat while Collin Snyder, Otis Stephens, and Nicholas Hatchell added to Northern’s 12-hit attack. Raiden Sexton, who went 2-for-3 with one RBI at the plate, suffered the pitching loss. He allowed eight runs (five earned) on eight hits and three walks. Sexton fanned seven in 3-and-1/3 innings on the mound. Hayden Miller recorded the final five outs for Bartow in relief. He allowed three earned runs on four hits and two walks with a pair of strikeouts. Rush Faulk led the Bartow offense with three hits and one RBI. Drew Nida, Drazen Jones, Trenton Mealer, and Matthew Zander added one hit each. GAME 2 NORTHERN 4, BARTOW 2 Bartow held leads of 1-0 and 2-1 in the first three innings, but Northern scored a run in the fourth inning to tie the game and two more in the top of the sixth to pull out the win. Raiden Sexton had an RBI single in the first inning for Bartow’s earliest lead and Rush Faulk smack a solo home run in the third inning that gave the locals a 2-1 edge. Northern scored a single run in the top of the third on a hit batsman and two infield hits. The Columbus squad tied the game 2-2 in the fourth on a walk and an RBI double by Veloz. Northern’s go-ahead runs in the sixth inning scored off an infield single and back-to-back, two-out RBI singles by Veloz and Clark. Carino picked up the pitching victory for Northern by finishing off the final 2-and-1/3 innings on the mound. He gave up only one hit, no walks, and recorded four strikeouts in his scoreless stint. Harrison Serna started the game and gave up two runs (one earned) on seven hits and two walks. Serna fanned seven. Jones (5 IP, 3ER, 6H, 3BB, 5K) was tagged with the pitching loss for Bartow County. Zander (1 IP, 1ER, 2H, 1K) recorded the final three outs. Faulk and Sexton finished with two hits each for Bartow including Faulk’s solo home run and one RBI for Sexton. McCayden Hufstetler, Jones, Wyatt Garlin, and Miller had the other Bartow base hits.

It wasn’t quite as dramatic as his walk-off grand slam in June, but Anthony Seigler’s second home run of the season proved to be clutch, as well. The former Cartersville High star launched a three-run homer Saturday in a 6-5 win at Wilmington — the same team Seigler victimized on the walk-off slam. This time, the Yankees’ first-round pick from 2018 gave his Hudson Valley side a two-run lead in the seventh inning of an eventual one-run win. At the major league level, Canes product Sam Howard began his second stint on the injured list. The Pirates added the southpaw to the 10-day IL last Tuesday, retroactive to his most recent outing on June 10, due to a strained oblique. PRO BASEBALL SAM HOWARD — Pittsburgh Pirates (8th-year pro; Cartersville HS)… Last week, Howard returned to the injured list for the second time in the 2021 season. After recently battling knee tendinitis, the 28-year-old Pittsburgh reliever was placed on the IL last week due to a strained oblique. The move comes after Howard allowed five earned runs in one-third of an inning against the Mets in his final appearance prior to the all-star break. CONNOR JUSTUS — Pensacola Blue Wahoos (6th-year pro; Miami Marlins organization; Cartersville HS)… Justus started five games during Pensacola’s series against Charlotte last week. He finished 3-for-18 with a double, two runs scored, and added an RBI. ANTHONY SEIGLER — Hudson Valley Renegades (4th-year pro; New York Yankees organization; Cartersville HS)… Seigler hit a go-ahead home run in the seventh inning Saturday to lift Hudson Valley to a comeback victory over Wilmington. The three-run blast flipped a 3-2 deficit into a 5-3 lead in an eventual 6-5 victory. Overall, the switch-hitting catcher went 3-for-16 across four starts in the series, adding a walk, two runs scored, and three RBIs. Contribution by Nicholas Sullivan -- The Daily Tribune News

Bartow County Little League 12U had their best offensive performance of the state tournament Wednesday night as they defeated five-time defending state champs Peachtree City, 13-4. The win by the District 1 champions puts them one win away from winning the first state championship for the district since 1953 when Rome Little League won the Georgia title. No 12U team from either Bartow County Little League or Cartersville Little League has ever won the Georgia state championship. Peachtree City, who has owned the Georgia title since 2015, will now need three consecutive wins to win the 2021 championship. (Note: There was no tournament in 2020 due to the pandemic.) Wednesday night, Bartow pounded out eleven hits while pitcher McCayden Hufstetler limited Peachtree City to its lowest offensive output of the tournament. Hufstetler pitched into the sixth inning to earn the win on the mound. The right-hander allowed four earned runs on seven hits and three walks while striking out seven. Raiden Sexton, who spent most of the night playing centerfield, toed the rubber with one out in the sixth inning and fanned both batters he faced to complete the victory. Playing as the home team, Peachtree City took a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first but the lead would be short-lived. Bartow 12U demonstratively answered in its next offensive frame. The locals took advantage of three walks in the top of the second while compiling three singles and back-to-back doubles to take a 7-2 lead. Bartow added a run in the third inning to lead 8-2 before Peachtree City’s Thomas Thigpen powered a two-run home run that narrowed the lead to 8-4. The score stayed 8-4 until the top of the sixth inning when Bartow County posted five insurance runs and effectively put the game away. Sexton paced the Bartow offense with three hits including a double, a home run, and three RBIs. Noah Janssen and Hayden Miller contributed two hits and three RBIs each. Drazen Jones finished with two hits including a double and two RBIs. Drew Nida and Wyatt Garlin tossed in one hit apiece while Rush Faulk added one RBI. The win puts Bartow in Friday’s state championship game(s) as the unbeaten team in the double-elimination tournament. Bartow (3-0) will play the survivor of Thursday night’s elimination game between Northern-Columbus (3-1) and Peachtree City (2-1). Northern-Columbus eliminated Warner Robins Wednesday night, 6-4. Bartow County 12U will need one win Friday night to win the state championship. The Northern-Columbus/Peachtree City winner will need to defeat Bartow County twice Friday to claim the title. Friday’s championship game is scheduled for 6 p.m. If a second game is necessary, it will follow at approximately 8 p.m. BartowSportsZone.com will broadcast the championship game(s) with pregame coverage beginning at 5:50 p.m. To listen online, use the player at the top of BartowSportsZone.com. You can also download the free Mixlr app to listen on your phone or smart device — then search for “Bartow Sports Zone,” — or — listen using this direct link: https://mixlr.com/bartow-sports-zone

Caleb Henson became Woodland High School wrestling’s first-ever national champion at the 2021 USA Wrestling Junior National Championship in Fargo, North Dakota. The rising senior picked up the title at 152 pounds Tuesday knocking off New Jersey’s Daniel Wask in a back-and-forth 9-9 bout in which Henson held criteria. Henson, a Virginia Tech commit and two-time Georgia state champion, was down 5-3 at the break but stormed back with a pair of takedowns and defense late to secure the title. Wask was one of eight unranked wrestlers in the finals field.

The Cartersville Little League 11U baseball team was eliminated at the Georgia State Tournament in Dudley Tuesday night with a 4-2 loss to Smyrna. Cartersville and Smyrna were knotted 1-1 through four innings, but Smyrna scored three times in the top of the fifth inning to take control. Cartersville managed a run in the bottom of the sixth that made the score 4-2, but got no closer. Brody Jones and Blake Genrich were strong on the mound for Cartersville 11U in the loss, combining for 13 strikeouts while yielding only six hits. Jones sat down ten in four and two-thirds innings. Genrich fanned three of the seven batters he faced in the fifth and sixth innings. Brant Rutledge had a double and one RBI for the Cartersville 11U offense. Mason Davis and Braden Slocumb collected one hit apiece. River Wade was credited with one RBI. Smyrna advances to the final three of the 11U state tournament and will play Northern-Columbus Wednesday night for the right to face host Dudley Little League in the finals on Thursday. Cartersville finished fourth in the six-team state tournament with a win over Toccoa and losses to Smyrna and Dudley. Cartersville Little League 11U: Aiden Turner, Avery Slye, Blake Genrich, Braden Slocumb, Brant Rutledge, Brody Jones, Brooks Fulton, Cam Kachinsky, Luke Thompson, Mason Davis, Noah Kearney, River Wade, Steven Tumlin, and Will Phillips. Manager: Lee Daniel. Information for local Little League softball and baseball updates along with updates from Georgia Recreation and Parks Association baseball and softball tournaments are provided by the Cartersville and Bartow County Recreation Departments and the respective Little League Baseball and Softball organizations. The updates are presented by CiCi's of Cartersville located in the Cherokee Crossing shopping center.

Cartersville Little League’s 11U team took down Toccoa Monday night, 18-9 in extra innings, in an elimination game at the Georgia 11U State Tournament in Dudley. Cartersville took control early with a six-run second inning and built a 9-0 lead heading into the bottom of the fourth. Toccoa didn’t go away, however, answering with four runs in the fourth inning and five more in the fifth to knot the score at 9-9. Following a scoreless sixth, Cartersville posted nine runs in the top of the seventh to secure the outcome with Braden Slocumb closing out the final frame on the mound with a pair of ground outs and a strikeout. Will Phillips picked up the pitching win for Cartersville after entering in the fifth inning and retiring all five batters he faced. Cartersville used a total of seven pitchers in the contest including starter Luke Thompson (3 IP, 1ER, 6K) who worked the first three frames and fanned six. Brant Rutledge (0.0 IP, 2ER, 1BB), Avery Slye (1.1 IP, 5R, 3ER, 3H, 2BB, 3K), Noah Kearney (0.0 IP, 1ER, 1H, 1BB), and Cam Kachinsky (0.0 IP, 1BB) also took the mound in relief. Rutledge paced the offense with three hits including a double and three RBIs. Slocumb had two hits including a double and two RBIs. River Wade and Slye finished with two hits and one RBI each. Blake Genrich, Brody Jones, and Thompson contributed one hit and one RBI each. Aiden Turner added one hit and Kachinsky was credited with one RBI. The win puts Cartersville (1-1) among the final four teams in the 11U state tournament. They will play Smyrna Little League (1-1) Tuesday night at 8 p.m. in an elimination game. The two undefeated teams — Northern-Columbus and host Dudley — play the game preceding Cartersville at 6 p.m. on Scott Brown Field. Information for local Little League softball and baseball updates along with updates from Georgia Recreation and Parks Association baseball and softball tournaments are provided by the Cartersville and Bartow County Recreation Departments and the respective Little League Baseball and Softball organizations. The updates are presented by CiCi's of Cartersville located in the Cherokee Crossing shopping center.

With high school football pre-season scrimmages now only three weeks away and regular season openers now five weeks out, the four local programs are fully entrenched in workouts and practices to prepare for what should be an exciting 2021 campaign. The Cartersville Purple Hurricanes led the way for local teams in 2020 by finishing 12-2 including a playoff run all the way to the Class 5A state championship game. The Adairsville Tigers also qualified for the state playoffs last season but fell to Dawson County in the Class 3A opening round to complete a 6-4 campaign. The Cass Colonels turned a bit of a corner in 2020 under new head coach Steve Gates and reeled off five straight wins to open the season before finishing 6-4 and the Woodland Wildcats had two games canceled due to COVID protocols but finished 4-4 at the .500-mark. Both Cass and Woodland tied for the final state playoff berth from Region 7AAAAA, but were edged out on a point differential tie-breaker by Hiram. On Friday, August 6, Cartersville will scrimmage against Jonesboro at Weinman Stadium on the newly installed sports turf while Woodland will host Model in a scrimmage at Wildcats Stadium. The following Friday, August 13, Adairsville will travel to Bremen for the Tigers’ preseason scrimmage and Cass will host a scrimmage against Cedartown at Cochran Stadium. Friday, August 20 marks opening night of the 2021 regular season for all four Bartow County programs. Adairsville and Cass will start on the road at Chattooga and Dawson County, respectively. Cartersville will host Morrow and Woodland will entertain Gordon Central. In anticipation of the 2021 season, BartowSportsZone.com recently polled all four local head coaches to develop a “Players to Watch” list. The responses are listed below along with the local high school football schedules and the broadcast schedules for WBHF-Cartersville and BartowSportsZone.com. ADAIRSVILLE TIGERS CARTERSVILLE PURPLE HURRICANES CASS COLONELS WOODLAND WILDCATS Complete 2021 local high school football regular season schedules. The 2021 high school football broadcast schedules for WBHF-Cartersville and BartowSportsZone.com. WBHF is available at 100.3FM / AM1450, online at WBHFradio.org, and on the free TuneIn app by searching for WBHF. The Bartow Sports Zone game of the week can be heard via BartowSportsZone.com and on the free Mixlr app by searching for Bartow Sports Zone. TBD games will be decided later in the season and usually based on potential playoff considerations. The Bartow Sports Zone radio show on WBHF gets each Friday started (7:10-9am) with local coach interviews, visits with sports personalities, and the BSZ Team with discussions on the "hottest" topics in sports. You can listen live "on air" or subscribe for free to the Bartow Sports Zone Podcast to listen at your convenience.

Bartow County Little League 12U won its second straight state tournament game in walk-off fashion Sunday night when they defeated Athens Little League in an extra inning thriller at Hamilton Crossing Park, 9-8. The two teams battled through rain delays and the regulation six innings knotted 4-4. In the top of the seventh, Athens posted three runs to grab a 7-4 lead but Bartow plated three runs of its own to send the game to an eighth inning. Beginning with the eighth inning, teams begin each frame with a runner placed at second base. Athens grabbed an 8-7 lead with an RBI double, but a line out double play ended the Athens threat to do further damage. In the Bartow County half of the eighth, Noah Janssen started the inning placed at second base and moved up to third on a wild pitch. Matthew Zander drove Janssen home and tied the game with a ground ball single. Zander was then replaced by Wyatt Garlin as a special pinch runner. The move paid off a few pitches later. Drew Nida reached on a bunt single with Garlin advancing to third base. Two pitches later, Garlin scored the game winning run on a wild pitch. The win marked a second straight walk-off victory for Bartow County and advances the local team to face the only other unbeaten team in the tournament, Peachtree City, Wednesday night. Bartow outlasted Warner Robins in the first round of the tournament, 3-2. Drazen Jones picked up the pitching win for Bartow Sunday by working the final four innings in relief. Jones allowed three, unearned runs on three hits and one walk. He struck out four. Zander started on the bump for Bartow yielding four runs (three earned) on eight hits and two walks. He also sat down four. Bartow totaled ten hits in the win. Hayden Miller had two hits and two RBIs including a two-out single in the seventh to tie the game at 7-7. Raiden Sexton finished with a pair of hits including a double, a walk, and one RBI in the seventh. Jones also contributed two hits, drew a pair of walks, and had one RBI. McCayden Hufstetler had a hit, a base on balls, and two RBIs. Zander drove in one run with one hit and a walk. Rush Faulk reached base three times with a double and two walks and Nida had the productive bunt single in the eighth. Rain delays throughout the day have now forced changes in the double-elimination tournament’s schedule. Elimination games originally scheduled for Sunday evening have now been shifted to Monday. Northern-Columbus (0-1) will play Elbert County (0-1) Monday at 4 p.m. and Warner Robins (0-1) will square off with Franklin County (0-1) at 6 p.m. Athens (1-1) will play the Northern/Elbert survivor Tuesday at 6 p.m. and Smyrna (1-1) will face the Warner Robins/Franklin winner at 8 p.m. Tuesday. The schedule changes mean Bartow County (2-0) will not play again until Wednesday night at 6 p.m. against the other unbeaten team, Peachtree City (2-0). NOTE: BartowSportsZone.com plans to broadcast the game live starting at 5:50 p.m. Peachtree City, the 2019 champs, beat Smyrna in Sunday’s only other completed game 9-4. The winner of Wednesday night’s Bartow/Peachtree City game will advance to Friday night’s state championship round needing only one more win to capture the state title. The Bartow/Peachtree City loser will need to survive an elimination bracket game to reach the finals and will then need two wins in the championship round. Updated schedule: Monday, July 19 - 4pm - Northern-Columbus v. Elbert County (loser eliminated) Monday, July 19 - 6pm - Warner Robins v. Franklin County (loser eliminated) Tuesday, July 20 - 6pm - Athens v. Northern/Elbert winner (loser eliminated) Tuesday, July 20 - 8pm - Smyrna v. Warner Robins/Franklin winner (loser eliminated) Wednesday, July 21 - 6pm - Peachtree City v. Bartow County Wednesday, July 21 - 8pm - Athens/Northern/Elbert winner v. Smyrna/WR/Franklin winner (loser eliminated) Thursday, July 22 - 6pm - Peachtree City/Bartow County loser v. Wednesday 8pm winner Friday, July 23 - 6pm - Championship Game Friday, July 23 - 8pm - Championship Game (if necessary) Information for local Little League softball and baseball updates along with updates from Georgia Recreation and Parks Association baseball and softball tournaments are provided by the Cartersville and Bartow County Recreation Departments and the respective Little League Baseball and Softball organizations. The updates are presented by CiCi's of Cartersville located in the Cherokee Crossing shopping center.

Bartow County Little League 12U won its opening game as host of the 2021 Georgia Little League State Tournament in dramatic fashion over Warner Robins, 3-2, with a walk-off. With the score tied 2-2 heading to the bottom half of the sixth inning, Wyatt Garlin reached with a leadoff single into right field and advanced into scoring position on a sacrifice bunt by Noah Janssen. Drew Nida was hit by a pitch with two outs before Rush Faulk delivered the game-winning, walk-off hit to drive home Garlin. Bartow out hit Warner Robins in the contest seven to two, but single runs in the third and fourth innings by the middle Georgia visitors knotted the score after the locals had taken an early 2-0 lead in the first two frames. The pitching was strong on both sides. Bartow County pitchers — Raiden Sexton and McCayden Hufstetler — struck out 13, while Warner Robins pitchers sat down seven. Hufstetler collected the pitching victory in relief. He walked two but did not allow a hit over the final two and two-thirds innings. Sexton was the Bartow starter and fanned eight over the first three and one-third innings. Bartow County grabbed a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first. Nida walked, advanced to third on a wild pitch and a groundout, and later scored when Sexton reached on third strike passed ball. Three walks followed by a Nida, one-out RBI single gave Bartow a 2-0 lead in the second inning. Hufstetler finished with two hits for the Bartow County offense. Faulk (RBI), Nida (RBI), Sexton, Garlin, and Matt Zander contributed one hit each. Warner Robins drops to the loser’s bracket and will play the Franklin County Sunday at 5 p.m. Bartow advances to play Athens Little League Sunday at 3 p.m. on Field 12 at Hamilton Crossing Park. Athens defeated Franklin County Little League Saturday night, 11-5. In earlier action Saturday, Peachtree City defeated Northern-Columbus 10-0 and Smyrna edged Elbert County, 1-0. Sunday's schedule: 2pm - Field 11 - Peachtree City v. Smyrna 3pm - Field 12 - Bartow County v. Athens 4pm - Field 11 - Northern-Columbus v. Elbert County (elimination game) 5pm - Field 12 - Warner Robins v. Franklin County (elimination game) Information for local Little League softball and baseball updates along with updates from Georgia Recreation and Parks Association baseball and softball tournaments are provided by the Cartersville and Bartow County Recreation Departments and the respective Little League Baseball and Softball organizations. The updates are presented by CiCi's of Cartersville located in the Cherokee Crossing shopping center.