Rockmart Little League 12U baseball blanked Cartersville Little League 3-0 Wednesday night to win the 2019 Georgia Little League District 1 championship at Rudy York Field. The winner-take-all game was needed after the two teams split their first two meetings in the double-elimination tournament by identical 5-2 scores. Cartersville won the first game of the tournament last Saturday over Rockmart, but after both teams defeated Bartow County, Rockmart won back-to-back matchups with Cartersville Tuesday and Wednesday. Although he suffered the loss Wednesday, Cartersville pitcher Brodie McWhorter (6 IP, 3R, 2ER, 6H, 1BB, 3K) kept Cartersville close with a solid, complete-game performance on the mound. Rockmart scored all three runs in the top of the fifth inning. Four hits and a catcher's interference produced the runs. Meanwhile, a pair of Rockmart pitchers limited Cartersville to only five hits and three walks while striking out nine. Tristan McKibben, Nolan Elrod, Logan Shrewsbury, Cameron Cochran, and Casen Cochran had the five Cartersville base hits — all singles. Rockmart advances to represent District 1 at the Georgia Little League Baseball State Tournament that begins July 13 in Toccoa. Wednesday night's win by Rockmart Little League marks their first District 1 title since 2002 and the league’s ninth district championship since 1963. Cartersville’s loss snapped a string of eleven straight district championships and leaves the Cartersville program with 15 of the last 17 district titles and 29 total dating back to 1962. Little League results are provided to Bartow Sports Zone by Bartow County Little League and Cartersville Little League. The game data is shared by the leagues via GameChanger reports from the respective teams and/or leagues. GRPA tournament team results are also provided by the Cartersville Parks and Recreation Department and the Bartow County Parks and Recreation Department or the Georgia Recreation and Parks Association. Results and capsules are sponsored on Bartow Sports Zone by Play It Again Sports and CiCi's - Beyond Pizza, both located in the Cartersville Main Street - Cherokee Place Shopping Center.

Cartersville Purple 8U won two games Wednesday at the Georgia Recreation and Parks Association (GRPA) state tournament in Calhoun to make it three straight wins in the event. Cartersville Purple 8U defeated Walton County 20-11 Wednesday afternoon and took down Jasper County 18-6 Wednesday evening. The tournament is being played at the Sonoraville Recreation Complex. In the win over Walton County, Cartersville Purple led 4-0 after two innings before Walton tied the score in the top of the third. Cartersville scored ten runs in the bottom of the third to take a 14-4 advantage and held off Walton County over the final two frames for a nine-run win. Will Groce paced Cartersville with four hits and had two RBI. Price Startup followed with three hits including a double and five RBI. Chris Parker also had a three-hit game with three RBI. Kolston Privett (RBI), Bowen Hardy, and Walker Phillips contributed three hits as well. Blake Forstie had a five-RBI game with two hits that included a double. Cade McFarland (RBI) and Easton Stephens tossed in a pair of hits each. Noah Leffew (2 RBI), Colt Priest (RBI), and Parker Huth added one hit apiece. In the evening game, Jasper County took a 5-0 lead in the top of the first before Cartersville scored 15 runs over their first three offensive frames. Jasper added a run in the fourth and Cartersville Purple ended the contest with a three-run fourth inning of their own and an 18-6 win. Startup had three hits including a pair of doubles and four RBI. Hardy finished with three hits including a double and two RBI and Phillips also managed three hits and one RBI. Groce had two hits including a double and two RBI. Huth and Forstie contributed two hits and one RBI each while Priest (RBI), McFarland (RBI), Privett (RBI) and Stephens added one hit apiece. Cartersville Purple 8U, now 3-0 in the double-elimination tournament, can finish no worse than third place and can win the state title with two more consecutive wins. Next for Cartersville Purple 8U is a 3 p.m. game Thursday against Wednesday night’s Calhoun/Gainesville winner. The winner of the Thursday 3 p.m. contest is locked into Friday’s championship round. The loser plays an elimination game at 4:30 p.m. Thursday. BARTOW WHITE 8U ELIMINATES CARTERSVILLE GOLD 8U Bartow County White 8U defeated Cartersville Gold 8U 21-9 Wednesday afternoon in an elimination game at the GRPA state tournament at Sonoraville Recreation Complex in Calhoun. Bartow White grabbed a 6-3 lead after two innings, but Cartersville Gold narrowed the margin to 6-5 in the top of the third. Bartow White then took control with an 11-run third inning on their way to the 12-run victory. Five Bartow White players had three hits each including Brock Morris (included two doubles), Knox Gunter (triple), Corbin Dotson (double), Maddox Koontz (double), and Triston Brawner. Javon Harris had two hits including a home run for Bartow White. George Murchison and Brady Young both had two hits including a triple each while Xavier Harris had a pair of hits including a double. Jasper Pruitt added a double and Zion Weems had the other Bartow White 8U hit. Camden Jones and Jake Thompson led Cartersville Gold 8U with three hits each. Hunter Campbell had a double and a triple. Braxton Mealer contributed two hits including a triple, while Owen Morneault finished with a pair of hits that included a double. Landon Hamilton, Jack Finnemore, Jack Mroczko, and Easton Raines rounded out the Cartersville Gold attack with one hit each. The loss eliminated Cartersville Gold 8U due to a 23-0 loss to Gainesville earlier in the day. Morneault had the only Cartersville base hit in that defeat. Wednesday morning, Bartow White 8U defeated Rockmart in an elimination game 22-9. Seven Bartow White 8U players had three hits each in the win including home runs for Pruitt and Javon Harris. Xavier Harris, Triston Brawner, Jace Reynolds, Gunter, and Murchison were the other Bartow players with three hits apiece. Brady Young, Dotson, and Koontz followed with two Bartow White hits each. Morris and Weems added one hit each. Bartow White 8U heads back to the diamond Thursday morning for an elimination game at 9 a.m. against Bartow Blue 8U. The winner plays again at 12 noon. BARTOW BLUE 8U SPLITS TWO GAMES AT STATE TOURNEY Bartow Blue 8U dropped its opening game at the GRPA state tournament Wednesday morning, but bounced back with a 17-2 win over Rome-Floyd County in the afternoon to stay alive in the elimination bracket. Bartow Blue led Calhoun 4-3 in the third inning, but a seven-run bottom of the third ultimately made the difference for Calhoun in their 11-7 win. Houston Walden had three hits including a double for Bartow Blue against Calhoun. Cade McCorkle and Brodie Gardner also had three hits in the loss. Noah Rogers had two doubles as six Bartow Blue players contributed two hits each. Jaxton Huskins, Abel Gentry, Austin O’Neal, Karsin Darby, and Logan Smith also had two hits. Joseph Frederick added a triple and Jackson Watts tossed in a double. In their elimination game win over Rome-Floyd, Bartow Blue 8U scored six runs in the first inning, nine in the second, and two more in the third inning on their way to a 15-run victory. McCorkle, Rogers, O’Neal, Gardner, Watts, and Will Whitman paced Bartow with two hits apiece. Logan Smith, Walden, Huskins, Gentry, Frederick, and Darby added one hit each. BARTOW 8U SOFTBALL STAYS ALIVE AT STATE TOURNEY The Bartow County 8U softball team routed Calhoun 30-9 Wednesday evening at the Sonoraville Recreation Complex to earn a split through their first two games in the GRPA state tournament. Bartow fell in their state tournament opener to Rockmart Tuesday night, 15-7. Bartow plays Dalton Thursday morning at 10:30 a.m. in the first of potentially three elimination games on the day. The Bartow/Dalton winner plays Lafayette at 1:30 p.m. and the Bartow/Dalton/Lafayette survivor plays again at 4:30 p.m. Through the first two games, Shyla Woods has paced the Bartow County offense with six hits including a pair of home runs. Samantha Porter follows with five hits including a homer and Addi Lu Black also has five hits. Isabelle Tummins and Lillian Hollis have four hits including two home runs each in Bartow’s first two state tournament games. Kaidee Pirkle and Kylee Poston have contributed four hits including a double each, while Sloan Callan also has four hits. Carly Adams has three hits including a home run. Carder Brock has a double and a triple while Paislee Rooks and Maci Walker have both added two hits apiece. CARTERSVILLE GOLD 12U FALLS TWICE AT GRPA STATE TOURNAMENT Cartersville 12U Gold, the GRPA District 5 champions, were ousted Wednesday at the double-elimination state GRPA tournament in Augusta with a second straight loss. Cartersville Gold 12U dropped its first round game Tuesday evening to Glynn County 5-1 and fell to Moultrie Wednesday morning in an elimination game 7-0. Cartersville Gold 12U led 1-0 Tuesday night, but Glynn County scored five times in the fifth to win the contest. Peyton Bowen had two hits including a double in the loss to Glynn. Talan Nix had a hit in the first inning and scored Cartersville’s run. Will Camp added a base hit in the sixth inning. Little League results are provided to Bartow Sports Zone by Bartow County Little League and Cartersville Little League. The game data is shared by the leagues via GameChanger reports from the respective teams and/or leagues. GRPA tournament team results are also provided by the Cartersville Parks and Recreation Department and the Bartow County Parks and Recreation Department or the Georgia Recreation and Parks Association. Results and capsules are sponsored on Bartow Sports Zone by Play It Again Sports and CiCi's - Beyond Pizza, both located in the Cartersville Main Street - Cherokee Place Shopping Center.

A trio of Rockmart Little League pitchers combined Tuesday night to limit Cartersville Little League 12U to only three hits and won 5-2 to force a winner-take-all game Wednesday night at Rudy York Field for the Georgia Little League District 1 championship. The teams have now split two games in the double-elimination tournament and Wednesday’s winner will advance to the Georgia Little League state tournament set to begin July 13 in Toccoa. Cartersville 12U topped Rockmart by an identical 5-2 score Saturday in both teams’ opening games in the tournament. Both teams beat Bartow County in the tournament to reach the championship round. In Tuesday night’s rematch, Rockmart went up 1-0 in the bottom of the first inning and took a 5-0 lead in the fourth. The four-run inning included a Rockmart two-run homer. Cartersville threatened and scored twice in the sixth taking advantage of three walks after two outs, but ultimately came up three runs short. Logan Shrewsbury (3 IP, 4R, 3ER, 3H, 3BB, 6K) started on the mound for Cartersville and was tagged with the loss. Tristan McKibben (0.2 IP, 1R, 0ER, 2H, 1K) and Luke Parker (1.1 IP, 0R, 2H, 1K) also pitched in the contest. Parker had an RBI double in Cartersville’s sixth inning. Thomas Peters and McKibben had the other Cartersville base hits. The two teams square off again Wednesday night at 6 p.m. for the District 1 title. Little League results are provided to Bartow Sports Zone by Bartow County Little League and Cartersville Little League. The game data is shared by the leagues via GameChanger reports from the respective teams and/or leagues. GRPA tournament team results are also provided by the Cartersville Parks and Recreation Department and the Bartow County Parks and Recreation Department or the Georgia Recreation and Parks Association. Results and capsules are sponsored on Bartow Sports Zone by Play It Again Sports and CiCi's - Beyond Pizza, both located in the Cartersville Main Street - Cherokee Place Shopping Center.

The Cartersville Purple 8U baseball team blitzed Rockmart Black 8U 42-7 Tuesday in both teams' opening game of the Georgia Recreation and Parks Association (GRPA) State Tournament in Calhoun, while Bartow County White 8U fell to Morgan County 14-6. Action is scheduled to continue through Friday in the 13-team, double-elimination coach pitch tournament at the Sonoraville Recreation Complex. All 12 players in the Cartersville Purple lineup had multiple hits and RBIs as they rolled to seven runs in the first inning, fifteen in the second, and twenty more in the third inning. Colt Priest (5 RBI), Parker Huth (4 RBI), and Price Startup (3 RBI) had five hits each for Cartersville Purple. Bowen Hardy (5 RBI), Blake Forstie (4 RBI), and Chris Parker (4 RBI) contributed four hits each. Cade McFarland (4 RBI), Noah Leffew (3 RBI), Kolston Privett (3 RBI), and William Groce (2 RBI) finished with three hits each while Walker Phillips tossed in a pair of hits and an RBI. Cartersville Purple 8U will play twice on Wednesday. They open with a 9 a.m. game against Morgan County. A win sends Cartersville Purple to a 6 p.m. game Wednesday evening. A loss places them in a 3 p.m. elimination game. Bartow County White 8U came up short against Morgan County Tuesday afternoon. The two teams were tied 5-5 until Morgan County scored seven runs in the bottom of the third to take a 12-5 advantage. Bartow County White added a run in the fifth and Morgan County scored twice in the bottom of the frame for a final eight run difference. Triston Brawner, Knox Gunter, Corbin Dotson, Brady Young, and George Murchison all had two hits for Bartow White. Jace Reynolds, Javon Harris, Brock Morris, Maddox Koontz, and Xavier Harris added one hit apiece. Bartow White plays Rockmart Black Wednesday morning at 10:30 a.m. in an elimination game. The winner will face the loser of a 9 a.m. game between Cartersville Gold 8U and Gainesville. Bartow Blue 8U also begins play Wednesday morning at 9 a.m. against Calhoun. The winner will face the Cartersville Gold/Gainesville winner Wednesday evening at 6 p.m. The Bartow Blue/Calhoun loser must play an elimination game at 3 p.m. against either Rome-Floyd or Dalton. Little League results are provided to Bartow Sports Zone by Bartow County Little League and Cartersville Little League. The game data is shared by the leagues via GameChanger reports from the respective teams and/or leagues. GRPA tournament team results are also provided by the Cartersville Parks and Recreation Department and the Bartow County Parks and Recreation Department or the Georgia Recreation and Parks Association. Results and capsules are sponsored on Bartow Sports Zone by Play It Again Sports and CiCi's - Beyond Pizza, both located in the Cartersville Main Street - Cherokee Place Shopping Center.

Elliott Anderson and Luke Schiltz joined the professional baseball ranks recently as three other baseball players with Cartersville connections continued their seasons at various MiLB levels. PRO BASEBALL ELLIOTT ANDERSON — Kansas City Royals’ organization (recently drafted, not yet assigned; 6-3, LHP; Auburn University; Cartersville HS)… Anderson has opted to forego his senior season at Auburn to sign with the Royals’ organization. He was selected in the 23rd round and was the 679th overall selection in the June draft. This season at Auburn he made 27 relief appearances and three starts to lead the Tigers in total appearances. Auburn finished the season 38-28 and reached the College World Series for the fifth time in school history. It was the Tigers first trip to Omaha in 22 years. The Tigers were ousted in two straight games at the CWS, falling to Mississippi State and Louisville. In 2019, Anderson had a 7-2 record with a 4.15 ERA in 65 innings pitched. Opponents hit .254 against the lefty. He struck out 67 and walked 30. Anderson made 68 total appearances for Auburn in three seasons and leaves with a 13-2 record in just over 107 innings. He fanned 108 in his collegiate career. Most new signees with the Royals report to the Arizona Rookie League. The Kansas City affiliate is located in Surprise, Arizona. The AZL Royals are currently managed by former Atlanta Braves’ shortstop Tony Peña, Jr. SAM HOWARD — Albuquerque Isotopes (6th yr. pro; 6-3, LHP, Triple-A Pacific Coast League; Georgia Southern; Cartersville HS)… made relief appearances at home last Monday against New Orleans and on the road Friday at Reno. He worked a spotless seventh inning against New Orleans with two strikeouts of the three batters faced. The Isotopes were trailing 2-1 at the time and eventually lost 5-3. Friday, Howard entered in the eighth inning with his team trailing 4-1. He gave up an earned run on two hits and a walk with Reno winning 5-1. Howard fanned two to run his season strikeout total to 45 in just over 35 innings. He has a 4.58 ERA and a 1-0 record in 27 relief appearances. Albuquerque (32-44) is fourth in the PCL’s Pacific Southern Division trailing El Paso by 15.5 games. CONNOR JUSTUS — Mobile BayBears (4th yr. pro; 6-0, Inf., Double-A Southern League; Georgia Tech; Cartersville HS)… Following the Southern League all-star break, Justus has hit safely in all three games at home against Jacksonville and has gone 4-for-10 including a double, a walk, and two RBI in the series that concludes Monday night. Justus has a .200 batting average with one home run and 14 RBI in 185 at-bats across 63 games. Defensively, Justus has seen action at shortstop, third base, and second base with a .947 fielding percentage in 226 total chances. He has been part of 25 double plays. Mobile is 2-2 in the Southern League’s South Division second half after finishing the first half with a 27-41 mark. ANTHONY SEIGLER — Charleston RiverDogs (2nd yr. pro; 6-0, C, Class A South Atlantic League; Cartersville HS)… in the RiverDogs first four games of the SAL second half schedule, Seigler is only 1-for-13 with three walks. the switch-hitting catcher has seen his batting average slip to .250 (8-for-32) after peaking at .368 through his first six games with Charleston. He has two doubles and one RBI through ten games after starting the year in extended spring training. Defensively, Seigler has thrown out 3-of-10 runners on attempted steals and does not have an error or passed ball. The RiverDogs have started the second half schedule 1-3 after narrowly missing the first half title that included a guaranteed post-season berth. Charleston has a three-game series at Rome Monday through Wednesday. LUKE SCHILTZ — Texas Rangers’ organization (recently drafted, not yet assigned; 6-5, RHP, (Cartersville, GA; Stoneman Douglas (Fla.) HS, )… was selected in the 24th round of the June draft by the Texas Rangers. The Cartersville native who attended Cartersville High School played his senior season at Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida where he resided with an older sister. T.R. Sullivan of MLB.com wrote a story on the Rangers’ new draft pick that can be viewed at this LINK.

Cartersville Little League 12U moved to within one win of the 2019 Georgia Little League District 1 championship Sunday afternoon with a 10-0 shutout of Bartow County. Cartersville produced a trio of three-run innings and banged out 13 hits en route to their five-inning win. Meanwhile, Cartersville pitchers Luke Parker and Tristan McKibben limited the Bartow County offense to only a pair of hits, one walk, and a hit batsmen. Parker (4 IP, 0R, 1H, 0BB, 4K) needed only 35 pitches and struck out four in four innings to earn the win. McKibben (1 IP, 0R, 1H, 1BB, 2K) fanned two in the fifth. Cartersville, who beat Rockmart 5-2 in the tournament’s opener Saturday, scored three runs in the bottom of the first to grab an early lead. Maddox Frazier doubled home the first run of the game. McKibben added an RBI double and later scored on Parker’s sacrifice fly. Cameron Cochran doubled and scored on a base hit by Cam Williams in the third inning before Cartersville tacked on three more runs in the fourth inning. Logan Shrewsbury walked and moved into scoring position on a passed ball to start Cartersville’s fourth. Frazier followed with an RBI single. Following a walk and an infield error, the bases were loaded for an RBI walk drawn by Thomas Peters before Brodie McWhorter scored on a wild pitch to give Cartersville a 7-0 lead. Cartersville ended the game in the fifth inning with three additional runs on four hits, a walk, and a Bartow miscue. Parker had an RBI single, McKibben forced home a run with a sacrifice fly, and the game ended with Andrew Lutjens’ RBI single for a 10-0 final score. Clifton Parker had a first inning single and Reece Heaton singled in the fifth for Bartow County’s two hits. Bartow starting pitcher Jackson Nelson (3 IP, 4R, 2ER, 8H, 1BB, 1K) suffered the loss. Robert Mitchell (0.0 IP, 3R, 2ER, 1H, 2BB) and Lucas Baker (1.2 IP, 3R, 2ER, 4H, 2BB, 1K) worked in relief. Ten different Cartersville players had at least one hit each. Frazier finished 3-for-4 with a double and two RBI. Cameron Cochran had a two-hit game that included a double. McKibben’s double and sac fly drove home two runs. Parker also finished with two RBI. Williams and Lutjens had one hit and one RBI apiece. Julian Cline, Nolan Elrod, Landen Heath, and Shrewsbury had the other Cartersville base hits. The loss drops Bartow County to an elimination game Monday night against Rockmart at Rudy York Field at 6 p.m. The winner of that game will have a chance to rematch with Cartersville in the championship round starting Tuesday night at 6 p.m. Cartersville needs only one more win in the three team, double-elimination tournament to capture the title. If a second championship round game is needed, it is scheduled for Wednesday night at 6 p.m. at Rudy York Field. Little League results are provided to Bartow Sports Zone by Bartow County Little League and Cartersville Little League. The game data is shared by the leagues via GameChanger reports from the respective teams and/or leagues. GRPA tournament team results are also provided by the Cartersville Parks and Recreation Department and the Bartow County Parks and Recreation Department or the Georgia Recreation and Parks Association. Results and capsules are sponsored on Bartow Sports Zone by Play It Again Sports and CiCi's - Beyond Pizza, both located in the Cartersville Main Street - Cherokee Place Shopping Center.

Cartersville Little League 12U opened the 2019 Georgia District 1 double-elimination tournament Saturday morning with a 5-2 victory over Rockmart at Rudy York Field. Playing as the visiting team, Cartersville scored a run in the top of the fifth to take a 3-2 lead and added a pair of insurance runs in the sixth on Maddox Frazier’s two-run home run. Cartersville took a 2-0 lead in the top of the first inning, but Rockmart scored single runs in the third and fourth innings to knot the score 2-2. Frazier also picked up the pitching victory for Cartersville in relief of starter Nolan Elrod. Elrod allowed only one earned run while scattering three hits and a pair of walks and two hit batsmen. He had one strikeout. Frazier took the mound in the fourth inning and yielded only one unearned run on four hits and two walks. He fanned five. On offense, Cartersville was paced by Frazier’s two hits that included his sixth inning blast. He also walked once and scored a pair of runs. Luke Parker contributed a double. Casen Cochran drove in one run with a hit and a walk. Tristan McKibben, Landen Heath, and Brodie McWhorter each added a base hit. Cam Williams and Julian Cline scored runs for Cartersville. The win advances Cartersville to meet Bartow County Sunday afternoon at 2 p.m. at Rudy York Field. The winner of that game secures a spot in the three-team double-elimination championship round that begins Tuesday night at 6 p.m. The Cartersville/Bartow loser will play an elimination game Monday night at 6 p.m. Little League results are provided to Bartow Sports Zone by Bartow County Little League and Cartersville Little League. The game data is shared by the leagues via GameChanger reports from the respective teams and/or leagues. GRPA tournament team results are also provided by the Cartersville Parks and Recreation Department and the Bartow County Parks and Recreation Department or the Georgia Recreation and Parks Association. Results and capsules are sponsored on Bartow Sports Zone by Play It Again Sports and CiCi's - Beyond Pizza, both located in the Cartersville Main Street - Cherokee Place Shopping Center.

Cartersville Junior Little League (14U) pounded out thirteen hits and got a complete-game pitching effort from Ayden Ray Saturday morning to beat Bartow County and secure the Georgia Junior Little League District 1 best-of-three championship series with a second straight win. Cartersville topped Bartow County in Game 1 of the series Friday night 12-3 by pulling away with a six-run, fifth inning. (LINK) The same Cartersville and Bartow County 14U squads squared off in the finals of the GRPA District 5 tournament that concluded earlier this month. Cartersville was 3-0 in that four-team double-elimination tournament on their way to securing the title. Bartow County 14U had wins over Whitfield County and Dalton in the GRPA District Tournament, but fell twice to Cartersville. Ray, who also doubled twice at the plate, tossed a seven-inning one-hitter in Saturday’s series Little League District 1 clinching game. He walked three and struck out seven in the victory. The lone Bartow County run scored in the seventh inning after two walks and an unusual groundout to the right fielder. The only Bartow base hit was a third inning single to right field by Corey Brookshire. Bartow’s Caden Goff had the RBI groundout in the final frame. Cartersville scored twice in the first inning and added three more runs in the third inning for a 5-0 lead. The offense also provided single runs in the fourth and sixth. Colin Genrich was a perfect 4-for-4 at the plate with one RBI to pace the Cartersville attack. Grant Knight drove in two runs with a pair of hits and Geoffrey Gore contributed a pair of RBI with one hit. Colt Williams, Luke Altizer, Trenton Payne, and Gabriel Cox had the other Cartersville base hits. Connor Wright (3 IP, 5R, 4ER, 7H, 1BB, 2K) started on the mound for Bartow County and was tagged with the pitching loss. Brookshire (3 IP, 2R, 1ER, 6H, 1BB) pitched the final three frames. Cartersville Junior Little League (14U) advances to the Georgia Junior Little League State Tournament scheduled to begin July 13 in West Point, Georgia. Little League results are provided to Bartow Sports Zone by Bartow County Little League and Cartersville Little League. The game data is shared by the leagues via GameChanger reports from the respective teams and/or leagues. GRPA tournament team results are also provided by the Cartersville Parks and Recreation Department and the Bartow County Parks and Recreation Department or the Georgia Recreation and Parks Association. Results and capsules are sponsored on Bartow Sports Zone by Play It Again Sports and CiCi's - Beyond Pizza, both located in the Cartersville Main Street - Cherokee Place Shopping Center.

The Daily Tribune News released its selections for 2019 All-Bartow County girls and boys soccer this week with Adairsville sophomore Cat Wheeler named the girls Player of the Year and Cartersville junior Pedro Ghanem the boys Player of the Year. 2019 DAILY TRIBUNE NEWS ALL-BARTOW COUNTY GIRLS SOCCER PLAYER OF THE YEAR Cat Wheeler, Adairsville, sophomore ALL-COUNTY TEAM Abbey Craig, Cartersville, freshman Kalyn Donegan, Cartersville, junior Jordan Evans, Woodland, senior Megan Hardin, Adairsville, freshman Havyn Isaac, Adairsville, senior Devondria Johnson, Cartersville, sophomore Sadye Johnson, Adairsville, sophomore Ellie McBridge, Adairsville, sophomore Briana Ochoa, Cass, senior Lupita Pineda, Cass, senior Madison Shook, Cass, sophomore Micah Vance, Cartersville, junior Logan Vermaas, Cass, senior Grace Webb, Woodland, junior HONORABLE MENTION: Aleah Abernathy, Adairsville senior; Kendyl Anderson, Cartersville sophomore; Linet Chege, Cartersville junior; Millie Conduff, Adairsville junior; Hannah DeBoard, Adairsville senior; Hailey Henson, Cass senior; Kiersten Iruegas, Woodland senior; Brittney Ochoa, Cass senior; Jocelyn Pineda, Cass senior; Leidi Toribio, Cass sophomore; and Janet Zazueta, Cartersville junior. 2019 DAILY TRIBUNE NEWS ALL-BARTOW COUNTY BOYS SOCCER PLAYER OF THE YEAR Pedro Ghanem, Cartersville, junior ALL-COUNTY TEAM Ethan Eckert, Cartersville, junior Giovanni Carrion, Cartersville, junior Stephen Knight, Adairsville, junior Kevin Moreno, Woodland, sophomore Ronny Ramirez, Woodland, senior Alex Rios, Cartersville, freshman Isai Romero, Cass, sophomore Joel Zazueta, Cartersville, sophomore For more information, visit these DTN releases: GIRLS http://www.daily-tribune.com/stories/2019-dtn-all-county-girls-soccer-team,22501? BOYS http://www.daily-tribune.com/stories/dtn-2019-all-county-boys-soccer-team,22494?

Cartersville Junior Little League (14U) scored six runs in the fifth inning Friday night to pull away and defeat Bartow County Junior Little League (14U) 12-3 in the first game of their Georgia Little League District 1 playoff at the Cartersville Baseball Complex. With the win, Cartersville needs only one more win in the best-of-three series. Cartersville scored four runs in the top of the first Friday night to take a lead they would not relinquish, but Bartow County made it interesting with single runs in the first, third, and fourth frames to make the score 4-3. ​​ A six-run fifth inning pushed Cartersville’s lead to 10-3 and they added two more runs down the stretch for their nine-run victory. Cartersville pitcher Colin Genrich (4 IP, 1ER, 3H, 1BB, 5K) picked up the pitching win in relief of starter Tripp Bradley (3 IP, 2ER, 3H, 3BB, 4K). Landon O’Neal (4 IP, 10R, 9R, 9H, 1BB, 2K) started on the bump for Bartow County with Cadyn Wade (1.2 IP, 0R, 1H, 2BB) and Easton Elrod (1.1 IP, 2R, 1ER, 2H, 2BB) also taking the mound. ​​ Bradley drove in three runs for Cartersville with a pair of hits including a double and a sacrifice fly. Luke Altizer (2 RBI), Grant Knight (RBI), Ayden Ray (RBI), and Colt Williams all contributed two hits. Turner Abernathy (RBI) and Geoffrey Gore (RBI) added one hit each. Sawyer Wilson and Genrich (sac fly) drove in one run apiece. Bartow got two hits each from O’Neal (RBI), Dawson Walters, and Luke Hollis. Caden Goff and Wade added one RBI each. The two teams are scheduled to return to the diamond Saturday at 9 a.m. at the Cartersville Baseball Complex Field 4. If a third game is needed, it is set for Sunday afternoon at 2 p.m. at the same location. The district winner advances to the Georgia Junior League State Tournament scheduled to begin July 13 in West Point, Georgia. Little League results are provided to Bartow Sports Zone by Bartow County Little League and Cartersville Little League. The game data is shared by the leagues via GameChanger reports from the respective teams and/or leagues. GRPA tournament team results are also provided by the Cartersville Parks and Recreation Department and the Bartow County Parks and Recreation Department or the Georgia Recreation and Parks Association. Results and capsules are sponsored on Bartow Sports Zone by Play It Again Sports and CiCi's - Beyond Pizza, both located in the Cartersville Main Street - Cherokee Place Shopping Center.

The 2019 Bartow County Panthers 12U Football team will host an open try-out Monday, July 8 at 7 p.m. at Hamilton Crossing Park. This team will compete in the Northwest Georgia Youth Football League (NWGYFL). Players age 12 or younger on July 1st, 2019 are eligible. Work out clothes and cleats are recommended. For more information, contact Jackson Hyde at (770) 881-1144 or Josh McWhorter at (470) 313-5288.

Former Cartersville High School and Auburn Tiger, Elliott Anderson, has made the decision to forego his senior college season to sign a professional contract with the Kansas City Royals’ organization. Anderson was selected by the MLB Royals in the 23rd round earlier this month. He was the 679th selection overall. A statement from Anderson’s Twitter account posted Thursday night: “These last three years at Auburn have been some of (the) most memorable moments of my life! The relationships I have made will last a lifetime! I have not only become a better pitcher since coming here, but also a better man, and I can’t thank Coach Thompson and the rest of the coaching staff enough for helping me along the way! I want to thank my parents for all the support and my teammates for having my back through everything! Thank you for all the work that goes on behind the scenes, whether it was providing one of the best playing surfaces in college baseball or our managers for working to provide us with everything we need! To the Auburn family, I can’t thank you enough! Once a Tiger, always a Tiger! War Eagle!” This season at Auburn the 6-foot, 3-inch left-handed pitcher made 27 relief appearances and three starts to lead the Tigers in appearances. Auburn finished the season 38-28 and reached the College World Series for the fifth time in school history. It was the Tigers first trip to Omaha in 22 years. Auburn won the Atlanta Regional at Georgia Tech and outlasted North Carolina in the Super Regionals to advance to the CWS. There the Tigers were ousted in two straight games, falling to Mississippi State and Louisville. In 2019, Anderson had a 7-2 record with a 4.15 ERA in 65 innings pitched. Opponents hit .254 against the lefty. He struck out 67 and walked 30. Anderson made 68 total appearances for Auburn in three seasons and leaves with a 13-2 record in just over 107 innings. He fanned 108 in his collegiate career. After the first ten rounds of the MLB draft, all players have an assigned value of $125,000. If any player gets a bonus higher than that, it must come out of the assigned draft pool of the first ten rounds. No subsequent draft pick can offset that bonus by taking an underslot bonus. Organizations often sign college seniors in the first ten rounds for under their assigned slot values. College seniors have little leverage and often are not offered significant signing bonuses. Underslot deals allow teams to sign other players later in the draft for overslot deals. Most new signees with the Royals report to the Arizona Rookie League. The Kansas City affiliate is located in Surprise, Arizona. The AZL Royals are currently managed by former Atlanta Braves’ shortstop Tony Peña, Jr. Anderson joins three other former Cartersville Purple Hurricanes currently playing professional baseball. Sam Howard, Connor Justus, and Anthony Seigler are currently with other minor league franchises.