Bartow County Little League 12U walks off with another state tourney win
Bartow County Little League 12U won its second straight state tournament game in walk-off fashion Sunday night when they defeated Athens Little League in an extra inning thriller at Hamilton Crossing Park, 9-8.
The two teams battled through rain delays and the regulation six innings knotted 4-4.
In the top of the seventh, Athens posted three runs to grab a 7-4 lead but Bartow plated three runs of its own to send the game to an eighth inning.
Beginning with the eighth inning, teams begin each frame with a runner placed at second base.
Athens grabbed an 8-7 lead with an RBI double, but a line out double play ended the Athens threat to do further damage.
In the Bartow County half of the eighth, Noah Janssen started the inning placed at second base and moved up to third on a wild pitch. Matthew Zander drove Janssen home and tied the game with a ground ball single. Zander was then replaced by Wyatt Garlin as a special pinch runner.
The move paid off a few pitches later. Drew Nida reached on a bunt single with Garlin advancing to third base. Two pitches later, Garlin scored the game winning run on a wild pitch.
The win marked a second straight walk-off victory for Bartow County and advances the local team to face the only other unbeaten team in the tournament, Peachtree City, Wednesday night.
Bartow outlasted Warner Robins in the first round of the tournament, 3-2. Drazen Jones picked up the pitching win for Bartow Sunday by working the final four innings in relief. Jones allowed three, unearned runs on three hits and one walk. He struck out four.
Zander started on the bump for Bartow yielding four runs (three earned) on eight hits and two walks. He also sat down four.
Bartow totaled ten hits in the win.
Hayden Miller had two hits and two RBIs including a two-out single in the seventh to tie the game at 7-7. Raiden Sexton finished with a pair of hits including a double, a walk, and one RBI in the seventh. Jones also contributed two hits, drew a pair of walks, and had one RBI.
McCayden Hufstetler had a hit, a base on balls, and two RBIs. Zander drove in one run with one hit and a walk. Rush Faulk reached base three times with a double and two walks and Nida had the productive bunt single in the eighth.
Rain delays throughout the day have now forced changes in the double-elimination tournament’s schedule. Elimination games originally scheduled for Sunday evening have now been shifted to Monday. Northern-Columbus (0-1) will play Elbert County (0-1) Monday at 4 p.m. and Warner Robins (0-1) will square off with Franklin County (0-1) at 6 p.m.
Athens (1-1) will play the Northern/Elbert survivor Tuesday at 6 p.m. and Smyrna (1-1) will face the Warner Robins/Franklin winner at 8 p.m. Tuesday.
The schedule changes mean Bartow County (2-0) will not play again until Wednesday night at 6 p.m. against the other unbeaten team, Peachtree City (2-0). NOTE: BartowSportsZone.com plans to broadcast the game live starting at 5:50 p.m. Peachtree City, the 2019 champs, beat Smyrna in Sunday’s only other completed game 9-4.
The winner of Wednesday night’s Bartow/Peachtree City game will advance to Friday night’s state championship round needing only one more win to capture the state title.
The Bartow/Peachtree City loser will need to survive an elimination bracket game to reach the finals and will then need two wins in the championship round.
Updated schedule:
Monday, July 19 - 4pm - Northern-Columbus v. Elbert County (loser eliminated)
Monday, July 19 - 6pm - Warner Robins v. Franklin County (loser eliminated)
Tuesday, July 20 - 6pm - Athens v. Northern/Elbert winner (loser eliminated)
Tuesday, July 20 - 8pm - Smyrna v. Warner Robins/Franklin winner (loser eliminated)
Wednesday, July 21 - 6pm - Peachtree City v. Bartow County
Wednesday, July 21 - 8pm - Athens/Northern/Elbert winner v. Smyrna/WR/Franklin winner (loser eliminated)
Thursday, July 22 - 6pm - Peachtree City/Bartow County loser v. Wednesday 8pm winner
Friday, July 23 - 6pm - Championship Game
Friday, July 23 - 8pm - Championship Game (if necessary)
Information for local Little League softball and baseball updates along with updates from Georgia Recreation and Parks Association baseball and softball tournaments are provided by the Cartersville and Bartow County Recreation Departments and the respective Little League Baseball and Softball organizations. The updates are presented by CiCi's of Cartersville located in the Cherokee Crossing shopping center.
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