Leaving runners in scoring position and a few key mistakes proved costly for the Adairsville baseball team Thursday night in a 3-2 home Region 6AAA loss to North Murray. Adairsville led 2-1 through four innings, behind the strong pitching of Sam Seaman, but single runs by North Murray in the fifth and sixth innings led to a 3-2 loss for the Tigers. The Mountaineers left eight runners on base and managed only three hits, but posted runs when it mattered most. The game deciding run in the sixth was unearned and came on a pair of walks and a Tigers’ error. Seaman (5 IP, 3R, 2ER, 3H, 6BB, 5K) logged the first five innings on the mound for Adairsville and was tagged with the loss. Kyler Pelfrey (2 IP, 0R, 0H, 0BB, 4K) worked the final two innings for the Tigers. Garrett Mishoe and Seaman each had an extra base hit and finished with two hits each. Corey Nation, Halen Huskins, Taylor Whitley, and Caden Gibbs added one hit apiece. The Mountaineers improved to 6-3 overall and 1-0 in region play. Adairsville (3-7, 0-1) travels to Ringgold Friday at 5:55pm and plays at Coahulla Creek Saturday at 4pm.

The Adairsville High School tennis teams split Region 6AAA matches at Haralson County Thursday night with the boys sweeping their way to a 5-0 victory. The Lady Tigers were edged by the Lady Rebels, 3-2. The Tigers improved to 2-1 in region matches. The Adairsville girls are now 1-2 in region play. HARALSON COUNTY GIRLS 3, ADAIRSVILLE 2 SINGLES Line 1 — Kendyle Harrell (HC) d. Abby Asbridge (A), 6-0, 6-1 Line 2 — Claire Robinson (HC) d. Chloe Powell (A), 6-0, 6-2 Line 3 — Megan Smith (A) d. Adriana Terrazas (HC), 6-1, 6-1 DOUBLES Line 1 — Samantha Jett / Danielle Jett (HC) d. Cali Mealer / MaKenzie Davis (A), 6-0, 6-0 Line 2 — Olivia Long / Audrey Mixon (A) d. Kaitlyn McAdams / Masie Webb (HC), 4-6, 6-3, 10-6 ADAIRSVILLE BOYS 5, HARALSON COUNTY 0 SINGLES Line 1 — Houston Medlock (A) d. Zach Taylor (HC), 6-0, 6-0 Line 2 — Jack Bates (A) d. Matt Vines (HC), 4-6, 6-0, 7-6 Line 3 — Cameron O’Neal (A) d. Brandon Morrell (HC), 6-2, 6-2 DOUBLES Line 1 — Landon Swanson / Cody Kimbrough (A) d. Colby Cheveres / John Kelley (HC), 6-2, 6-2 Line 2 — Jason Burdette / Zach Ogle (A) d. Ethan Johnson / Josh Hardeman (HC), 6-1, 6-1

The Cartersville High School girls and boys tennis teams defeated Cedartown Thursday night. The Lady Canes won 5-0 with five straight sets victories to improve to 7-3 for the season and 4-0 in Region 5AAAA. The boys team defeated the Bulldogs 4-1 and improved to 6-4 overall and are also now 4-0 in Region 5AAAA. CARTERSVILLE GIRLS 5, CEDARTOWN 0 SINGLES Line 1 — Emma McCary (Cv) d. Campbell Parkham, 6-0, 6-1 Line 2 — Kenly King (Cv) d. Suzanne Ellis, 6-0, 6-0 Line 3 — Ansley Thompson (Cv) d. Katie Puckett, 6-2, 6-3 DOUBLES Line 1 — Taylor Riddle / Jordan Ross (Cv) d. Rachel Helmes / Sydney Tanner, 6-0, 6-1 Line 2 — Allyson Ireland / Lydia Wieditz (Cv) d. Jodi Grace Kelley / Reagan Tanner, 6-1, 6-0 CARTERSVILLE BOYS 4, CEDARTOWN 1 SINGLES Line 1 — Will Allen (Cv) d. Steven Walker, 6-2, 7-6 Line 2 — Matthew Slocum (Cv) d. Brandson Bently, 6-2, 6-1 Line 3 — Will McLendon (Ced) d. Ross Norwood (Cv), 4-6, 6-4, 10-3 DOUBLES Line 1 — Juan Zazueta / Ivy Nelson (Cv) d. Noah Beck / Jayan Kent, 3-6, 6-1, 6-1 Line 2 — John Blackhall / Griffin Shaw (Cv) d. Sam Payne / Josh Hurst, 6-0, 6-2

Anthony Seigler tossed a complete-game, two-hit, shutout and struck out 12 to lead the Cartersville Purple Hurricanes to a 1-0 win over Sandy Creek Thursday in th Canes’ Region 5AAAA opener. Seigler needed only 83 pitches and threw 70 percent of his pitches for strikes while only walking one batter in the contest. Ira Clifton was the tough-luck losing pitcher for the Patriots. He scattered eight hits and did not walk a batter while striking out five after giving up the the game’s only run in the first inning. Devin Warner lined a single into right field to drive home the ultimate game winning run in the bottom of the first. His hit scored Seigler, who had tripled to lead off the inning. Seigler finished 3-for-3 at the plate on the day. Jake Gooch had two hits for Cartersville. J.P. Martin and Preston Welchel added one hit each. Sandy Creek slipped to 11-5 overall and 1-1 in region games with the loss. Cartersville (10-3, 1-0) plays at Chapel Hill Friday at 5:55pm in another Region 5AAAA matchup. The Canes are also scheduled to play Rome Saturday at State Mutual Stadium in Rome.

Final results for Scott Hamilton Golf Academy players for tour events ending Sunday, March 12. Each week, Bartow Sports Zone tracks the professional golfers on tour affiliated with Cartersville Country Club's Scott Hamilton Golf Academy (ScottHamiltonGolf.com) and teaching professional Mike Granato (MikeGranatoGolf.com). Both Hamilton and Granato are affiliated professionals with Athletic Motion Golf. (https://athleticmotiongolf.com) Scott Hamilton is the long time Director of Golf at CCC and is teacher/advisor/instructor to many prominent golf professionals competing on the PGA Tour, PGA Champions Tour, WEB.com Tour, LPGA Tour, and more. Mike Granato is a local golf instructor who also works with many of Hamilton's clients. SHGA players on the PGA Tour Results from The Valspar Championship Innisbrook Resort (Copperhead) Palm Harbor, FL Winner: Adam Hadwin -- 68-64-67-71 --- 270 (-14) T9 — Russell Henley -7 T38 — Hudson Swafford -1 T49 — Charles Howell III +1 T52 — Ben Martin +2 68 — Scott Stallings +8 Missed Cut Aaron Baddeley Steven Bowditch Chris Kirk Boo Weekley Brendon Todd Next PGA Tour event: March 16-19 -- Arnold Palmer Invitational -- Bay Hill Club & Lodge -- Orlando, FL SHGA player on PGA Champions Tour Joe Durant returns to action this week with the PGA Champions Tour at the Tucson Conquistadores Classic at Omni Tucson National, Tucson, AZ • Purse: $1,700,000 NOTE: The WEB.com Tour continues play March 23.

The Cass baseball team grabbed an early lead Wednesday night at Hiram by posting nine runs over the first three innings on their way to an 11-6 Region 7AAAAA victory. The win for the Colonels also completed a two-game sweep of the Hornets. Cass defeated Hiram 8-7 at home Tuesday night. Cass scored a single run in the first inning, six in the second, and two more runs in the third inning for their early lead. Hiram kept the game close with a four-run bottom of the second. The Hornets narrowed the Cass lead to 9-6 in the fifth inning with two more runs, but the Colonels added a pair of insurance runs in the top of the sixth to secure the win. Cass pitcher, Cody Johnson, earned the pitching win (photo right, courtesy TCPics). He went five innings, surrendering six runs (five earned), six hits, and struck out four Hornets. Evan Hinton closed out the game with two shutout innings. He allowed only one hit and one walk and struck out one. Josh Franklyn had three hits and Avery Ragsdale drove in three runs to lead Hiram’s offense. Jake Collum (2 RBI) and Clay Means (RBI) finished with three hits each for Cass. Steven Spell drove in three runs with two hits. Bailey Campbell walked three times and had one hit. Nathan Smith, Zach Yancey (RBI), Johnson, and Hinton each added a hit for the Colonels. Six Cass hits in the game were doubles as they out hit Hiram 13 to seven. The Colonels also stole five bases. Hiram fell to 2-12 overall and 0-2 in the region. Cass (9-6, 2-0) plays a Region 7AAAAA, two-game series with county-rival Woodland Friday at home and at Woodland on Monday. Both games are scheduled for 5:55pm starts.

The Cartersville High School girls and boys tennis teams defeated Sandy Creek Wednesday night. The Lady Canes won 5-0 with five straight sets victories to improve to 6-3 for the season and 3-0 in Region 5AAAA. The boys team defeated the Patriots 4-1 and dropped only four games in eight sets in their four wins. The Hurricanes improved to 5-4 overall and are also now 3-0 in Region 5AAAA. CARTERSVILLE GIRLS 5, SANDY CREEK 0 SINGLES Line 1 — Emma McCary (C) d. Tyana Burney (SC), 6-1, 6-0 Line 2 — Kenly King (C) d. Ryann Woodard (SC), 6-0, 6-0 Line 3 — Ansley Thompson (C) d. Victoria Houser (SC), 6-0, 6-0 DOUBLES Line 1 — Taylor Riddle / Jordan Ross (C) d. Vy Tran / Irieonna Davis, 6-0, 6-0 Line 2 — Allyson Ireland / Lydia Wieditz (C) d. Gianna Phan / Maya Dacres, 6-0, 6-0. CARTERSVILLE BOYS 4, SANDY CREEK 1 SINGLES Line 1 — Alex Tomlin (SC) d. Will Allen (C), 6-2, 6-4 Line 2 — Matthew Slocum (C) d. John Glass (SC), 6-0, 6-1 Line 3 — Ross Norwood (C) d. Harold Jones (SC), 6-0, 6-1 DOUBLES Line 1 — Juan Zazueta / Ivy Nelson (C) d. Travis Horton / Tavian Suggs (SC), 6-2, 6-0 Line 2 — John Blackhall / Griffin Shaw (C) d. Ethan Paul / Nicholas Jennings (SC), 6-0, 6-0

The Cartersville High School tennis teams shutout Central-Carrollton Tuesday night in near freezing temperatures without dropping a single set. Both the Lady Canes and Hurricanes won 5-0 in Region 5AAAA matches. CARTERSVILLE GIRLS 5, CENTRAL-CARROLLTON 0 SINGLES Line 1 — Emma McCary won 6-1, 6-1 Line 2 — Kenly King won 7-6, 6-3 Line 3 — Ansley Thompson won 6-1, 6-0 DOUBLES Line 1 — Taylor Riddle / Jordan Ross won 6-2, 7-5 Line 2 — Allyson Ireland / Lydia Wiedetz won 6-4, 6-1 Lady Canes improve to 5-3 overall and are now 2-0 in Region 5AAAA. CARTERSVILLE BOYS 5, CENTRAL-CARROLLTON 0 SINGLES Line 1 — Will Allen won 6-1, 6-0 Line 2 — Matthew Slocum won 6-0, 6-2 Line 3 — Ross Norwood won 6-0, 6-4 DOUBLES Line 1 — Juan Zazueta / Ivy Nelson won 6-4, 6-3 Line 2 — John Blackhall / Griffin Shaw won 6-4, 6-2 The Canes move to 4-4 overall and are now 2-0 in Region 5AAAA. Both teams host Sandy Creek Wednesday and play at Cedartown on Thursday.

The Cartersville Purple Hurricanes have arguably played the toughest schedule of any team in any classification in Georgia during the first month of the season and are poised to make another run at a region title in their new league, Region 5AAAA. The efforts of the battle-tested Canes have not been overlooked as a variety of baseball ranking systems have Cartersville listed among the state's elite. The quest for a region title begins this week for the Canes with a home game against Sandy Creek Thursday and a trip to Chapel Hill on Friday. Both game times are 5:55pm. There will be plenty of challengers in the new region. Troup County, LaGrange, and Cedartown will be among the top contenders. Cartersville (9-3) received multiple recognitions this week in various polls and rankings. The Canes cracked the Top 30 of Perfect Game USA’s national high school rankings ( Story: https://www.perfectgame.org/Articles/View.aspx?article=13627 ) and are ranked No. 1 in both the MaxPreps Georgia Class AAAA computer rankings ( Story: http://www.maxpreps.com/polls/baseball/xcellent25.htm ) and last Friday’s ScoreAtlanta poll. Cartersville is also ranked 6th among all classifications in Georgia in the first MaxPreps rankings released this week. The Canes were ranked second this week in the Georgia Dugout Preview Magazine poll, behind Blessed Trinity. ( Story: http://georgiadugoutpreview.com/morefpinfo.php?rid=302&page=polls&catg=&titleid= ) Woodland received consideration in the Georgia Dugout poll in Class AAAAA and was ranked 19th in the classification by the MaxPrep computers. Cass was ranked 29th in Class AAAAA by MaxPreps. In Class AAA, Adairsville was ranked 24th in the MaxPrep computer rankings.

The Cartersville boys soccer team earned an important road, Region 5AAAA win Tuesday night at Central-Carrollton, 2-1. On a frigid evening, all three goals in the game occurred in the first half with the Canes taking an early 2-0 lead. Pedro Ghanem scored in the game's third minute with an assist from Pedro Robledo. Robledo then scored 12 minutes later unassisted for Cartersville's 2-0 advantage. The Lions scored their goal in the 25th minute and both teams battled defensively the rest of the way. Central-Carrollton slipped to 2-7 overall and 1-1 in region play. Cartersville (6-1-1, 1-0) plays at Chapel Hill Friday at 8pm. CENTRAL-CARROLLTON GIRLS 2, CARTERSVILLE 1 (Overtime) The Lady Canes lost Tuesday night at Central-Carrollton, 2-1 in overtime. The hosting Lady Lions improved to 4-5 on the season and 1-2 in Region 5AAAA. Cartersville (5-3, 1-1) plays at Chapel Hill Friday night at 6pm.

The Cass boys soccer team defeated the chilling weather conditions and visiting East Paulding Tuesday night at Doug Cochran Stadium, 6-2, for a Region 7AAAAA victory. The Colonels held a 2-1 lead at halftime, but trailed early. East Paulding scored with 32:26 remaining in the opening half on a penalty kick for a 1-0 advantage, but Cass answered with a pair of goals before the intermission. Jorge Cabanos scored on a penalty kick to tie the game 1-1 with 18:47 left in the half and Anthony Robledo found the net with an unassisted goal that gave the Colonels a 2-1 lead at the break. Cass took a 3-1 lead on a goal by Robledo with an assist by Nelson Arroyo with 33:13 remaining in the second half, but the Raiders scored to narrow the lead to 3-2 with 23:47 remaining. The Colonels then put the game away down the stretch with three goals. Robledo scored off an assist from Jackson Laurent with 14:06 remaining for a two goal lead. Arroyo scored on a Robledo assist less than three minutes later and Cabanos scored his second goal off an ssist from Robledo in the waining seconds. Cass keeper, Brandon Romero, had six saves in goal. East Paulding falls to 2-6 overall and 0-3 in region play. Cass (1-8 overall, 1-3 Region 7AAAAA) plays at Hiram Friday night at 7:30pm in another region tilt.

Jake Collum singled home Nathan Smith with the game winning, walk-off run to cap a three-run rally in the bottom of the seventh inning Tuesday night for a “chilling” Region 7AAAAA win on a frigid night at the Cass High School athletic complex. Collum, who also started for the Colonels on the mound, had a four-RBI night with a 2-for-4 performance at the plate. The Colonels trailed 7-4 going to the bottom of the sixth inning, but rallied for a single run in the sixth inning and three more in the seventh for a come-from-behind 8-7 victory. Cody Johnson reached on an error by the Hornets’ shortstop to begin the final inning rally. Steven Spell walked and on a wild pitch, both baserunners moved up a base. After two strikeouts, Smith singled through the right side to drive home two runs that tied the game 7-7. Smith advanced on a passed ball and then Clay Means moved him to third base with an infield hit. Bailey Campbell was walked to load the bases and Collum was next to deliver the game-winning RBI. Collum was also responsible for the Colonels’ run in the sixth inning. His sacrifice fly drove in Means, who had singled earlier in the frame. Hiram took an early 5-0 lead with three runs in the third inning and two more in the fourth. Cass narrowed the margin to 5-4 with four runs in the bottom of the fourth. Three walks and a hit batsman plated the Colonels first run. Means then hit a sacrifice fly to right field to score another run. Following another walk, Collum lined a two-RBI single into left field. Collum (3.1 IP, 5R, 2ER, 5H, 2BB, 7K) began the game on the mound for Cass. He was relieved in the fourth inning by Austin Pruett (3.2 IP, 2R, 1ER, 4H, 3BB, 5K) who picked up the pitching win. In addition to Collum’s offense, Means was 2-for-4 with one RBI; Smith drove in three runs and scored twice with a hit and a walk; Spell and Campbell who were walked a combined six times, had one hit each. Trent Parker, Levi Walker, and Colt Anderson combined for five hits and five RBIs for the Hornets. The late offensive rally by the Colonels allowed them to overcome six defensive errors in the game. "We have to play better defense," said Cass head coach Adam Williams. "Without the mistakes defensively, we don't need that late rally. It is still good to come away with a win." Hiram (2-11, 0-1) will host Cass in a rematch Wednesday at 5:55pm. Cass improved to 8-6 overall and 1-0 in Region 7AAAAA. The Colonels also have a region game Friday at home against county-rival Woodland.