Oxford (AL) scored a run in the first and added an insurance run in the seventh inning Friday afternoon for a 2-0 win over Cartersville in a bracket semifinal game of the 2021 Perfect Game High School Showdown in Hoover. Yellow Jackets’ pitchers Carter Johnson and Peyton Watts combined to limit Cartersville to only three hits in the shutout. The Canes’ best scoring threat came in the bottom of the fourth inning. Hank Smith doubled with two outs and was thrown out at the plate trying to score on a single to center field by Parker McPherson. Mason McBee started on the mound for the Canes and suffered the pitching loss despite allowing only one earned run on three hits with no walks. McBee fanned four. Davis Williams pitched the seventh inning allowing an earned run on two hits and one walk. Williams struck out three. In addition to the hits by Smith and McPherson in the fourth inning, Blake Sutton had a base hit for the Hurricanes in the second inning. Oxford improved to 6-1 with their win and will play Loganville (GA) for the White Division championship Saturday. Cartersville (4-4) will play a consolation game Saturday at 10:30 a.m. CT against Russell County (AL) on Field 2 at the Hoover Met Sports Complex.

Cartersville scored three runs in the sixth inning Thursday night to take a 3-2 lead and then added an insurance run in the seventh to secure a 4-2 victory over Mountain Brook (Ala.) at the Perfect Game High School Showdown in Hoover. Canes pitcher Phillip Schiltz tossed a complete game one-hitter and struck out nine to earn the victory on the mound. Both Mountain Brook runs were unearned. One scored on an infield error and the other on a wild pitch. Five different Cartersville batters finished with one hit each. Blake Sutton had the clutch hit in the sixth inning to give Cartersville the lead. His hard hit infield single drove in the tying and go-ahead runs for the Hurricanes. Parker McPherson contributed a double and one RBI. Curt Bonner, Jake Brasfield, and Hank Smith added one hit apiece. The loss dropped Mountain Brook to 7-3 on the season. Cartersville (4-3) advances to bracket play Friday at 3:30 p.m. in the White Division at the Hoover Met Sports Complex. The Canes will be the top seed in the division and will square off against the Oxford (Ala.) Yellow Jackets. The division championship game is slated for 9 a.m. Saturday in the Stadium at Hoover. SEE ALSO -- Canes win opener at PG High School Showdown

The Woodland tennis teams both lost matches to Armuchee Thursday. The Lady Cats lost 3-2 and the Wildcats fell to the Indians, 4-1. ARMUCHEE 3, WOODLAND GIRLS 2 Woodand results: Singles Line 1 — Eryn Gentry lost 1-6, 0-6 Line 2 — Emma Savage lost 4-6, 2-6 Line 3 — Monterya Morrow won 6-7 (7-9), 6-3, 10-2 (tiebreaker) Doubles Line 1 — Abby Cates / Jolie Fannin won 6-4, 6-4 Line 2 — Jaylee Kilgo / Jalyn Womack lost 6-3, 4-6, 4-6 ARMUCHEE 4, WOODLAND BOYS 1 Singles Line 1 — Ian Vanorder lost 0-6, 1-6 Line 2 — Mason Tucker won 6-2, 6-7, 10-5 (tiebreaker) Line 3 —Cayden Wade lost 4-6, 0-6 Doubles Line 1 — Domenic Ciavarro / Javen Bowen lost 0-6, 2-6 Line 2 — Jack Gore / Chandler Verhine lost 0-6, 1-6

The Cass boys soccer team won its fourth consecutive game Thursday night at Cochran Stadium, defeating Class 7A North Paulding, 2-0. Both Colonels goals were registered by Alfred Chege. Cass (5-3, 1-0 Region 7-AAAAA) hosts Armuchee in a non-region game Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. before traveling to Cartersville Friday, March 12.

The South Paulding Spartans posted runs in each of the first four frames and built an early 7-0 lead Thursday night on their way to a 7-2 win at Cass. A pair of South Paulding pitchers — Justin England and Bryce Folsom — combined to limit the Colonels’ offense to only three hits and a pair of fourth inning runs. The Cass defense committed four errors and allowed four unearned runs. The Colonels’ pitchers issued seven walks. Jayden Smith (4 IP, 7R, 3ER, 8H, 3BB, 3K) started on the mound for Cass and took the pitching loss. Trey Scott (2 IP, 0R, 0H, 3BB, 5K) and Thomas botts (1 IP, 0R, 0H, 1BB) pitched in relief. Lawson Folds and Tyler Chatham combined for four hits and three RBIs to lead the Spartans offense. Bentley Markley, Aidan Larkin, and Alex Freeman had one hit each for the Colonels. South Paulding improved to 7-2. Cass (1-6) travels to Northwest Whitfield Saturday for a non-region doubleheader starting at 1 p.m.

The Cartersville Hurricanes won their opening game of the 2021 Perfect Game High School Showdown Thursday, defeating North Broward Prep (Coconut, FL) 5-1 in Hoover, Alabama. Micah Earwood starred on the mound in the victory tossing a seven-inning, one-hitter. Earwood walked two and struck out ten. Cartersville led 2-0 after one inning and added three more insurance runs in the bottom of the fourth. The lone Eagles’ run crossed in the top of the fourth when North Broward pieced together a walk, a single, a hit batsman, and scored as the Canes turned a double play. The first four batters in the Hurricanes’ lineup — Curt Bonner, Jake Brasfield, Hank Smith (RBI), and Parker McPherson (2 RBIs) — provided one hit each for the Cartersville offense. The win leveled Cartersville’s season record at 3-3. The Canes are scheduled for a second pool play game Thursday evening at 8:30 p.m. CT against Mountain Brook (Ala.). Bracket play in the event begins Friday.

Georgia Highlands baseball completed a doubleheader sweep of Triton College Thursday afternoon at LakePoint Sports in Emerson. The wins also completed a four-game series sweep of the visiting Trojans. The Chargers finished off the second game of Thursday’s doubleheader with a five-inning, 12-2 win. GHC won the opener 8-7. In the second game Thursday, the Chargers scored five times in the bottom of the first inning and later added a six-spot in the fourth inning for a run-rule shortened victory. Chase Townsend (5 IP, 2ER, 6H, 0BB, 6K) fanned six and earned a complete-game victory on the mound. Palmer Sapp banged a three-run home run in the first inning as Georgia Highlands opened up a 5-0 lead. He finished with three hits in the game including a double and four RBIs. Trace Twardoski had two hits including a double and three RBIs with a sacrifice fly. Brandon Prince had a three-run double in the fourth inning. David Smith drove in a run with a sac fly and had one hit. Connor Todaro, Joe Sutton, and Omar Daniels contributed one hit apiece. GEORGIA HIGHLANDS 8, TRITON COLLEGE 7 Trace Twardoski doubled home Joe Sutton in the bottom of the seventh in Thursday’s opening game against Triton College to lift the Chargers to an 8-7 win. Sutton led off the Georgia Highlands’ seventh inning by reaching on a Trojans’ infield error. The walk-off double made GHC reliever Zack Valentine (2 IP, 1ER, 2H, 1BB, 2K) a winner on the mound following his two innings of work in relief of starter Johnny Dow (5 IP, 6R, 3ER, 9H, 1BB, 4K). Sutton led the Chargers’ offense reaching base on all four plate appearances. He finished the first game with two hits, a walk, two runs scored, and a pair of RBIs. Mickey Maguire had a hit and two RBIs. Brandon Prince, Palmer Sapp, and Trenton Parker all had one hit and one RBI for Georgia Highlands. Triton falls to 1-6-1 following the losses. Georgia Highlands (17-3) is scheduled for a doubleheader with Tennessee Wesleyan Monday at LakePoint.

The Cass High track and field teams defeated Southeast Whitfield and Adairsville Wednesday in action at Cochran Stadium. The Lady Colonels finished with 103 points with the Southeast Whitfield girls scoring 53 and Adairsville girls 20. The Cass boys totaled 109 points with Adairsville scoring 68 and Southeast Whitfield finishing with 26 points. All individual and event results are linked below: The Cass teams will compete this Saturday in the Southeast Whitfield Invitational in Dalton.

The Adairsville Lady Tigers took control of the game early and maintained control throughout the match Wednesday evening in a 9-0 victory at Darlington. Adairsville took a 5-0 lead by halftime and coach David Sexauer was able to play the entire roster in the second half. Cat Wheeler completed the hat trick with Adairsville goals in the game’s 4th, 46th, and 54th minutes. Sadye Johnson finished with a pair of goals and assisted on three tallies. Johnson’s goals came in the 14th and 39th minutes. Ellie McBride scored a goal and had one assist. Taylor Rhoades, Gabi Becerra and Maddie Gossett added a score. Kaylee Jordan assisted on two goals. Emma Collins and Giorgia Conduff added one assist each. Coach Sexauer recognized the improvement of the team’s defensive line including Addy Coker, the play of center fullback Emma Collins, and the contributions of freshmen Maddie and Caroline Gossett. Adairsville (5-1, 1-0) returns to Region 6-AAA action Friday night against Rockmart. The Lady Tigers will recognize the 2021 seniors.

The Adairsville Tigers scored eight runs in the bottom of the sixth inning Wednesday to capture a 10-6 non-region win over visiting Coosa. The Eagles (3-4) held leads of 3-0 through two innings and 6-2 prior to the Tigers’ big inning. Adairsville’s Jack Whitley (3 IP, 1ER, 1H, 2BB, 1K) earned the pitching victory in relief of starter Elijah Padgett (4 IP, 5R, 4ER, 6H, 3BB, 8K). Logan Hunt (double, 2 RBIs), Chris Roper, and Wade Dooley (RBI) led the Tiger attack with two hits each. Kyler Smith contributed a double and two RBIs. Padgett (RBI) and Braden Powell (RBI) added one hit apiece. The Tigers (4-4) will play a pair of games Saturday at Temple. Adairsville will face the host Temple Tigers and will also play the Mt. Zion Eagles. SPRAYBERRY 6, WOODLAND 5 Woodland fell behind early Wednesday night at Sprayberry and couldn’t quite complete a comeback effort in a 6-5 loss. Sprayberry scored twice in the first inning and tacked on three more runs in the third to grab an early 5-1 lead. Woodland scored three times in the fourth to narrow their deficit to 5-4, but the Yellow Jackets added a run in the fifth to lead 6-4. A sixth inning run by Woodland cut the gap to one run again, but the Wildcats went down 1-2-3 in the seventh inning to come up one run short. Starter Peyton Posey (5 IP, 6R, 5ER, 9H, 0BB, 5K) suffered the pitching loss for Woodland. Drew Billings (1 IP, 0R, 0H, 1BB, 2K0 worked the sixth inning on the mound for the Wildcats. Posey and Jakiyon Porter had two hits including a double each for Woodland. Julian Wright finished with two hits and one RBI. Carter Heath had a double and two RBIs and Chase Carson added the other Woodland base hit. Sprayberry improved to 4-5 on the season. Woodland (3-5) plays at Model Friday at 5 p.m. and will host Kennesaw Mountain Saturday in a 12 noon start. SONORAVILLE 10, CASS 4 Cass dropped a non-region decision to Sonoraville Wednesday night, 10-4. The Phoenix jumped to an early 4-0 lead through three innings and never trailed. Cass narrowed the margin to 4-1 in the fourth inning, but Sonoraville extended their lead to 7-1 by the end of the fifth. The Colonels tagged on three runs over the sixth and seventh innings but the Phoenix held on for a 10-4 victory. The Colonels pitching staff hurt themselves by issuing 10 walks in the loss. Both Cass and Sonoraville totaled five hits. Jax Lockaby (6 IP, 3R, 2ER, 5H, 1BB, 6K) picked up the pitching win for Sonoraville. Devin Hackney (1 IP, 1R, 0ER) closed out the seventh inning. Hayden Cole (2 IP, 4R, 2ER, 3H, 3BB, 1K) started on the mound and suffered the pitching loss for the Colonels. Thomas Botts (2 IP, 2ER, 1H, 2BB, 2K), Nic Wallin (1.2 IP, 4R, 3ER, 1H, 4BB, 2K) and Matt Shook (0.1 IP, 1BB) all pitched in relief. Cole Godfrey had two hits including a solo home run for Sonoraville as the Phoenix improved to 4-1 on the season. Jordan Gani had a pair of hits for Cass. Shook smacked a two-run home run for the Colonels in the sixth inning. Bentley Markley and Jayden Smith had the other Cass base hits. The Colonels (1-5) will look to get back in the win column Thursday when they play South Paulding at LakePoint.

The Woodland boys soccer team took a 2-1 lead by halftime and added six tallies in the second half on their way for an 8-1 victory Tuesday night at Adairsville. Chris Sanchez and Hunter Echols scored two goals each for the Wildcats. Joel Alerto, Allan Pineda, Kevin Moreno, and Jesus Ortega added the other Woodland goals. Woodland (5-3) opens Region 7-AAAAA play Friday night at home against Blessed Trinity. Adairsville plays at Darlington Wednesday.

The Adairsville girls soccer team defeated Woodland 4-2 Tuesday night in Tiger Valley. Megan Hardin scored a pair of goals. Cat Wheeler scored a goal and added three assists. Kaylee Jordan scored a goal and Sadye Johnson finished with one assist. Hardin’s goals came in the 4th and 20th minutes — both were assisted by Wheeler. Wheeler scored the Lady Tigers second goal of the night in the 6th minute off a feed from Johnson. The Jordan goal came in the 25th minute with an assist going to Wheeler. Adairsville led 4-0 at the intermission. Woodland scored twice in the second half. Tiera Feanny and Reagan Weightman scored goals for the Lady Cats. Woodland (2-4-1) begins Region 7-AAAAA play Friday at home against Blessed Trinity. Adairsville (5-1, 1-0 in Region 6-AAA) has another non-region game Wednesday at Darlington.