Canes, Eagles go 12 innings Thursday night

Pitchers from both Cartersville and Etowah were dominant for most of the evening Thursday night at Richard Bell Field. In fact, the two teams had combined for only three hits in the regulation seven innings and only combined for four hits after eight innings.

Both teams scored twice in the ninth inning to continue extra innings before the visiting Eagles scored five times in the top of the 12th inning for an eventual 7-4 win. Etowah took a 2-0 lead in the top of the ninth on a two-run single by Jordan Fricks, but Cartersville answered immediately. The Canes responded with RBI singles by Caleb Daniel and Elliott Eastin to knot the score 2-2. On the Eastin hit, Daniel was cut down at home plate for the final out of the ninth sending the game deeper into the night.

In the top of the 12th, Etowah utilized a double, three singles, a walk, and a hit batsmen to compile their five runs. Drew Rothschild produced a two-out, two-run hit in the bottom of the inning, but the rally ended there. Geoffrey Gore (3.2 IP, 5R, 4ER, 5H, 2BB, 6K) was saddled with the pitching loss for the Hurricanes after entering in relief in the ninth inning. Colt McKibben (4 IP, 0R, 0H, 3BB, 2K) was the Cartersville starter. Ryan Johnson (4 IP, 2ER, 2H, 4BB, 7K) and Cal Goss (0.1 IP) also pitched.

Daniel finished with three hits including a double and one RBI. Eastin had two hits and one RBI. Smith contributed two hits including a double. Rothschild drove in two runs with one hit. Harrison Childers and Blake Sutton added one hit apiece.

Etowah improved to 3-1.

Cartersville (2-1) hosts Forsyth Central Saturday at 1 p.m.