Canes complete back-to-back unbeaten region seasons with sweep of Cass; Calhoun edges Wildcats in extra innings
April 13, 2024
Top-ranked Cartersville defeated visiting Cass 6-2 on Saturday morning at Richard Bell Field to complete the Canes’ 2024 region slate with a 12-0 record. The win also marks the first time the Hurricanes have gone undefeated in region play in back-to-back seasons since the 2008 and 2009 seasons.
Nate Russell tossed six strong innings to collect Saturday’s pitching victory. Russell allowed two earned runs on five hits and one walk while striking out eleven. Nolan Elrod closed out a scoreless seventh inning. Elrod walked two and struck out one.
Andrew Purdy paced the Canes’ offense with two hits including a double and two RBIs. Six others in the Cartersville lineup added one hit.
Cole Crawford hit a solo home run. Luke Miller tripled. Thomas Peters doubled. Aidan Larkin (RBI), Caleb Daniel (RBI), Luke Miller, and Tristan McKibben singled.
Cayden Roberts (4 iP, 4ER, 5H, 1BB, 3K) made the pitching start for the Colonels and took the loss. Chase Tatum (1 IP, 2R, 0ER, 2H) and Devan Hutchinson (1 IP, 2K) recorded three outs each for Cass.
Hunter Lovett, Jesiel Moctezuma, and Hutchinson had hits for Cass. Tatum drove in one run.
Cartersville (22-4, 12-0) will play non-region tuneups for the state playoffs on Monday at Centennial and Tuesday at home against River Ridge.
Cass (13-13, 4-5) has an important three-game region series that begins Monday at Woodland at 5:55 p.m. The Colonels will host the Wildcats on Wednesday and the series finale will be at Woodland on Friday.
CALHOUN 3, WOODLAND 2 (8 innings)
Woodland baseball tied the game late but fell in extra innings on Saturday afternoon to visiting Calhoun, 3-2.
With their victory, the Yellow Jackets took two of three games in the region series. with each game decided by one run.
Mason Williams was hit by a pitch in the bottom of the second inning and worked his way around the bags to eventually score on a wild pitch as the Wildcats grabbed an early 1-0 advantage.
Calhoun answered in the top of the fourth to take a 2-1 lead. Camden Stewart singled home two runs for the Jackets.
Back-to-back singles by Ayden Ray and Jake Clowers in the bottom of the sixth led to a tying run for the Wildcats. Logan Bentley’s sacrifice bunt scored pinch-runner Jonathan Ryan.
After a quiet seventh inning, Calhoun took the lead in the top of the eighth inning on a bases-loaded walk.
Ray doubled to open the Woodland eighth inning but two groundouts and a strikeout ended the Wildcats’ threat to tie.
Woodland starting pitcher Zach Lambert (4 IP, 2ER, 4H, 3BB, 3K) worked the first four innings. Lucas Baker (3 IP, 1ER, 2H, 3BB) was saddled with the pitching loss in relief. JD Trail (1 IP, 2K) retired the final three outs with two strikeouts.
Ray and Clowers finished with two hits including one double each for the Wildcats. Conner Lujan and Connor Stermer added one hit. Bentley contributed one RBI.
Calhoun improved to 8-17 overall and into second place in Region 7-5A with a 4-5 region mark. The Yellow Jackets hold a tie-breaker over Cass (13-13, 4-5) head-to-head. Calhoun completes the region schedule next week with a three-game series against Dalton.
Woodland (12-13, 3-6) has a three-game region series with Cass that begins at home on Monday at 5:55 p.m. The series moves to the Colonels’ home field on Wednesday and returns to Woodland on Friday.
