Canes complete trip to PG Showdown with 10-1 win

Cartersville baseball wrapped up its annual visit to the Perfect Game High School Showdown in Hoover, Alabama with a 10-1 win Saturday morning over Russell County (AL) in a white division consolation game. The Canes finished 3-1 in the event and third in their nine-team division with wins over North Broward Prep (FL) and Mountain Brook (AL) to go with Saturday’s victory. The lone loss was to Oxford (AL) in the divisional bracket semifinals.

In Saturday’s win, Cartersville led 3-1 after two innings, 6-1 after three, and added four more insurance runs in the fifth inning. Hurricanes pitchers Davis Williams (2 IP, 1ER, 3H, 1BB, 5K), Gunner Millsap (3 IP, 0R, 1H, 0BB, 3K), Cal Goss (1 IP, 0R, 0H, 2BB, 1K), and Silas Freeman (1 IP, 0R, 0H) combined to allow only one earned run on four hits and three walks. The quartet totaled nine strikeouts. The Canes scored three times in the second inning with only a leadoff single by catcher Colt McKibben. Two hit batsmen, two walks, and an infield error led to Cartersville taking a 3-1 lead.

In the Hurricanes’ third inning, Curt Bonner, who finished with two hits in the game, was credited with an inside the park home run to center field. The hit lifted Cartersville to a 6-1 advantage by scoring Drew Rothschild and Jimbo Gaines who had reached on a walk and a single, respectively.

Davis Williams, Hank Smith, and Parker McPherson drove in runs with fifth inning hits. Elliott Eastin, who also singled in the frame, scored on a wild pitch in the inning for a Cartersville 10-1 lead that closed out the scoring.

The loss drops Russell County to 5-6-1 on the season. Cartersville (5-4) begins Region 7-AAAAA play Tuesday at Hiram in a 5:55 p.m. start. The Canes will host the Hornets in a doubleheader Friday starting at 5 p.m. to complete the three-game series.