Bartow, Cartersville Little Leagues compete at NW Georgia Sectional tourneys
The Bartow County Little League and the Cartersville Little League were represented last weekend and early this week at the Georgia Little League Northwest Sectional Tournaments for Rookies (8U) and Sandlot (9U) levels. In the double-elimination Sandlot Division Tournament hosted by Cartersville Little League, the Bartow County Sandlot team finished third after falling to eventual runner-up Smyrna Red Tuesday night, 12-6. The Bartow team had a 10-6 elimination game win over Cartersville last Monday after falling Sunday in the opening round to Smyrna Red, 15-10.
The Cartersville Sandlot team was narrowly defeated 6-4 by eventual champion Smyrna Blue in last Saturday’s opening round, but stayed alive Sunday with a one-sided 19-2 win over South Fulton. Smyrna Blue defeated Smyrna Red Wednesday for the Northwest Georgia Sectional Sandlot championship and advanced to the Georgia Rookie State Tournament July 14-16 in Warner Robins.
The Cartersville Rookie Division team -- playing at Smyrna Little League -- dropped both of its games in that double-elimination tournament. Cartersville fell to eventual champion Smyrna Blue 13-5 in the locals’ opener and was outlasted by Smyrna Red 11-10 in their elimination game.
The Cartersville Rookie team grabbed an early 3-0 lead in their opener and trailed only 6-4 through three innings, but Smyrna Blue scored seven times in the fourth inning to take control. In Game 2, the Cartersville Rookies raced to an early 6-1 lead, but Smyna Red scored six times in the bottom of the second and matched the locals in each of the following frames for a one-run win. Bartow County Little League did not have a team in the Rookie Division Northwest Georgia Sectional.
Local highlights from the two tournaments and game capsules are listed below.
Georgia Little League Northwest Georgia Sectional Rookie Division (8U)
Smyrna Blue 13, Cartersville 5
Cartersville’s Will Groce was 3-for-3 including one double, one run scored, and one stolen base. Price Startup finished 2-for-3 with a double and one run scored. Colt Priest added a double and Walker Phillips contributed three stolen bases. Cartersville utilized four different pitchers in the loss — Startup, Priest, Phillips, and Easton Stephens.
Smyrna Red 11, Cartersville 10 Cartersville managed only a pair of hits — one each from Colt Priest and Chris Parker — but battled and was either tied or ahead in every frame before suffering the one-run loss. The locals stayed in contention by taking advantage of a dozen walks and five Smyrna Red errors. Priest and Walker Phillips both added four stolen bases each to the offensive effort. Noah Leffew (3 IP, 8R, 6ER, 7H, 0BB, 3K) pitched the first three innings. Priest also pitched for Cartersville allowing three runs (two earned) on a pair of walks.
Georgia Little League Northwest Georgia Sectional Sandlot Division (9U)
Saturday, June 1 Smyrna Blue 6, Cartersville 4
Seven Cartersville players had one hit each including Brant Rutledge (double, RBI), Blake Genrich (RBI), Braden Slocumb (RBI), Asher Phillips, Dawson Ray River Wade, and Drake Bailey.
Sunday, June 2
Smyrna Red 15, Bartow County 10 Bartow was paced by Nathaniel Jones’ 3-for-3 performance at the plate. Jones also scored three times with one RBI and a stolen base. Bryson Weaver (run, two stolen bases), Jackson Jarrett (run, stolen base, two RBI), and Huck Garlin (three runs, one stolen base) tossed in a pair of hits each. Hank Barfield (one run, one RBI), Dawson Warner (run scored), and Dustin Wallin added one hit apiece. Pitchers for Bartow were Alfredo Romo (0.1 IP, 6ER, 1H, 5BB) and Garlin (3.1 IP, 9R, 8ER, 10H, 2BB, 1K).
Cartersville 19, South Fulton 2 Cartersville out hit South Fulton fifteen to one in a one-sided win. Eleven Cartersville players had at least one hit each including Avery Slye (2-for-2, 2 runs, 2 RBI, 2 stolen bases); Ramsey Dunn (2-for-3, 2 runs, 1 RBI, 2 stolen bases); Brody Jones (2-for-2, 2 runs, 1 RBI, 2 stolen bases); Braden Slocumb (2-for-3 with a home run, two RBI, 1 stolen base); Dawson Ray (double, 2 RBI, 1 stolen base); Blake Genrich (double, 2 runs, 1 RBI); Drake Bailey (double, 2 runs, 2 RBI); John Brady Nichols (triple, 2 runs, 2 RBI); Mason Davis (hit, 1 run); Brant Rutledge (hit, RBI); Asher Phillips (hit, 1 run); River Wade (1 run, 2 RBI). Dunn pitched all three innings for Cartersville allowing only two unearned runs on one hit with a pair of strikeouts. He did not issue a walk.
Monday, June 3
Bartow County 10, Cartersville 6 Bryson Weaver picked up the pitching win for Bartow County with a complete game effort. He allowed four earned runs (six total) on six hits and three walks. Weaver fanned six. The Bartow offense posted four hits — one each from Huck Garlin (double, run scored), Jackson Johnson (one hit, two runs, two stolen bases), Mitchell Raughton (two runs, two RBI), and Alfredo Romo (double, run). Dawson Warner scored twice and stole a base. Nathaniel Jones scored a run and stole a base. Hank Barfield stole a base and Bryson Weaver added one run scored. Dawson Ray led Cartersville at the plate with a 3-for-3 performance that included a double, two runs, and a stolen base. Avery Slye (run, 2 RBI), Brant Rutledge (double, 3 RBI), and Mason Davis (double, RBI) added one hit each. Braden Slocumb contributed a run and stole a base. Blake Genrich scored one run. Pitchers for Cartersville included: Rutledge (0.2 IP, 4R, 3ER, 1H, 4BB), John Brady Nichols (1.2 IP, 2R, 0ER, 0H, 2BB, 5K), and Brody Jones (1.2 IP, 4R, 1ER, 3H, 1BB, 4K).
Tuesday, June 4
Smyrna Red 12, Bartow County 6 Bartow got hits from Huck Garlin (run scored), Jackson Jarrett (triple, RBI, two runs), and Bryson Weaver (triple, 2 RBI, run). Nathaniel Jones scored a run and stole two bases. Dawson Warner stole a base and scored a run. Pitchers for Bartow included Mitchell Raughton (0.1 IP, 7ER, 2H, 4BB, 1K) and Jarrett (3 IP, 5ER, 7H, 4BB, 2K).
2019 Cartersville Rookie Roster: Blake Forstie, Will Groce, Bowen Hardy, Parker Huth, Noah Leffew, Cade McFarland, Cash Meadows, Chris Parker, Walker Phillips, Colt Priest, Kolston Privett, Price Startup, and Easton Stephens. Manager: Drew Startup. Assistant Coaches: Chris Huth and T.J. Leffew.
2019 Cartersville Sandlot Roster:
Drake Bailey, Mason Davis, Ramsey Dunn, Blake Genrich, Brody Jones, Fisher Nelson, John Brady Nichols, Asher Phillips, Dawson Ray, Brant Rutledge, Braden Slocumb, Avery Slye, and River Wade. Manager: Nick Wade. Assistant Coaches: Clint Rutledge and Sam Bailey.
2019 Bartow County Sandlot Roster:
Alfredo Romo, Bryce Patterson, Cooper Rampley, Dawson Warner, Dustin Wallin, Brody Lingerfelt, Isaiah Craig, Bryson Weaver, Nathaniel Jones, Jackson Jarrett, Hank Barfield, Mitchell Raughton, Kasey Jacobs, and Wyatt “Huck” Garlin. Manager: Kyle Barfield. Assistant Coaches: Brandon Jarrett and Heath Garlin.
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. 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.
