Woodland, Cass drop region games Wednesday
The visiting Kell Longhorns took a 5-3 decision at Woodland Wednesday night to earn a split in the two-game Region 7AAAAA series with the Wildcats.
Woodland won Monday at Kell, 8-6.
The Wildcats scored a run in the home half of the first inning to take an early, but the Longhorns scored put single runs on the scoreboard in the second and third innings and three more in the sixth inning to take a 5-1 lead.
Woodland scored twice in the bottom of the sixth to narrow their deficit to two runs, but could get no closer.
Chris Smith (6 IP, 3R, 2ER, 6H, 2BB, 8K) got the win on the bump for Kell. Jake Lecroy earned a save with a spotless seventh inning.
Starting pitcher Cauy Williams (5.1 IP, 5ER, 6H, 4BB, 7K) was saddled with the loss for the Wildcats. Bryce Evans (1.2 IP, 0R, 3H, 0BB, 1K, photo right) closed out the game on the mound for Woodland.
Sam Blancato (double, two RBIs) and Noah Dawkins (RBI) had two hits each to lead the Longhorns’ offense.
Jacob Frye had two hits including a solo home run for Woodland. Williams also had two hits. Hunter Reaid and Koby Stansel (double, RBI) had one hit each.
Kell improves to 18-9 overall and 8-4 in Region 7AAAAA.
Woodland (15-9, 6-6) plays a two-game, home-and-home, region series with 2nd-ranked Carrollton Friday and Monday. The Wildcats travel to Carrollton Friday and host the Trojans Monday. Both games are 5:55pm starts.
EAST PAULDING 11, CASS 4
The East Paulding Raiders struck for six runs in the first three innings Wednesday night to take a 6-2 lead over visiting Cass and then added five more runs in the latter innings on their way to an 11-4 Region 7AAAAA win over the Colonels.
Cass scored first with a run in the top of the second inning, but the Raiders answered with five in the bottom of the frame. The Colonels cut the lead to 5-2 in the top of the third, but East Paulding again answered with a single run in the third, two in the fifth, and three more runs in the bottom of the sixth to take an 11-2 lead.
The Colonels scored twice in the top of the seventh for the 11-4 final score.
Daniel Batcher went four innings for the East Paulding pitching win. Jackson Phipps and Michael Cox pitched in relief.
Zach Yancey (1.2 IP, 5ER, 4H, 2BB) suffered the pitching loss in a start on the mound for the Colonels. Austin Pruett (3.2 IP, 6R, 4ER, 5H, 4BB, 4K) entered in the second and worked into the sixth inning before giving way to Gavin Young (0.2 IP, 0R, 0H, 0BB) for the final two outs.
Sean Cheely, Will Prater, Ty Delancey, and Jacob Cook combined for seven hits and six RBIs to lead the Raiders’ attack.
Clay Means (photo, right), Tyler Hendon (RBI) and Jake Collum (double, RBI) had two hits each for Cass. Steven Spell (RBI), and Nathan Smith each added a hit. Cody Johnson had one RBI.
With their win, the Raiders swept the two-game series with Cass and improved to 13-11 overall and 9-3 in Region 7AAAAA.
Cass (13-14, 6-8) will look to even their Region 7AAAAA mark in their final home-and-home region series with Paulding County that begins Friday in Dallas. The Patriots play at Cass Monday. Both game times are 5:55pm. The Colonels also have a non-region game Saturday at home against River Ridge at 11am.
