Canes sweep Bears, advance to state quarterfinals

Canes' closer Phillip Schiltz pitched three innings Saturday. He did not allow a run or a hit and struck out six of the eleven batters he faced.

The Cartersville Purple Hurricanes won both games of their home doubleheader with the Cambridge Bears Saturday evening to sweep the GHSA Class 5A best-of-three second-round series.

The Sweet Sixteen series victory sends Cartersville to the state quarterfinal round for the 24th time in the past 27 seasons.

The Canes won the opening game Saturday 5-1 and completed the sweep in the nightcap, 4-1.

In the opener, the Purple Hurricanes broke open a tight contest with four runs in the bottom of the fifth inning to take a 5-0 lead.

The Bears, who outhit Cartersville six to five, produced a run in the sixth inning but made no further threat.

Caden Carroll made another solid start on the mound for the Canes working into the sixth inning. He scattered six hits and one walk to allow just one, unearned run. Carroll fanned nine of the 23 batters he faced.

After giving up back-to-back singles to open the sixth inning, Hurricanes’ skipper Kyle Tucker turned to Phillip Schiltz to close out the final six outs. Schiltz did not allow a run, a hit, or a walk and struck out four.

Cartersville grabbed a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the third. Landon Cole led off the inning with a double. Then after one out, Luke Miller lined a triple into right field to score Cole.

Isaac McNair-Seigler led the Purple Hurricanes’ offense in the doubleheader with four hits and four RBIs.

In their productive fifth inning, Cameron Cochran led off with a single into right field. Cole bunted and reached on an error moving Cochran’s pinch runner Turner Abernathy to second. Paul Gamble followed with another bunt that was again misplayed allowing Abernathy to score and Cole to advance to third. After Miller walked, Miles Owen launched a sacrifice fly to right field enabling Cole to score. Two batters later, Ian McNair-Seigler singled into right field driving home two more runs for a 5-0 lead.

In the best-of-three series-clinching game, Cartersville batted first in each inning and took a 2-0 lead in the top of the first on a two-RBI single by McNair-Seigler. Owen and Caleb Daniel had singled earlier in the frame.

Cambridge made the score 2-1 with a run in the bottom of the inning but that would be the Bears’ final run of their season.

The one-run difference remained until the Hurricanes added a run in the top of the fifth. Gamble led off with a double into left field and scored one out later on an RBI single by Owen.

Up 3-1, Daniel lifted a solo home run over the right field wall in the seventh for an additional Canes’ insurance run.

Ryan Johnson earned the Cartersville pitching win with a strong six-inning start. The righty allowed just one earned run on five hits and one walk while fanning six. Schiltz entered in the seventh to close out the victory. The reliever did issue one walk but kept Cambridge off the scoreboard and struck out two.

McNair-Seigler led the Purple Hurricanes’ offense in the doubleheader with four hits and four RBIs. Three other Canes — Owen (two RBIs, sac fly), Daniel (solo HR), and Cole (two doubles) followed with two hits each. Gamble (double), Miller (triple, RBI), Cochran, and Kaden Stephenson finished the twin bill with one hit apiece.

The season ends for Cambridge with a 19-14 record.

No. 1-ranked Cartersville (31-2) will find out their state quarterfinal opponent and the location for that best-of-three series Monday evening. In the next round, the Canes will face the Northside-Columbus/Greenbrier winner. Those two teams split their doubleheader in Evans Saturday with each team winning one game each by identical 9-2 scores.

As for the location of the next series, Cartersville, the No. 1-seed from Region 7-5A would host Northside-Columbus. The Patriots are a 3-seed from Region 3-5A. Greenbrier, on the other hand, would host Cartersville if the Wolfpack win Monday's rubber game. Greenbrier is the Region 1-5A champ and the bottom team in the bracket.

NOTE: The GHSA universal coin toss conducted earlier in the week determined the bottom team in the bracket will host when the two opponents are identical seeds.

The quarterfinals are scheduled for next Saturday and Monday -- May 6 and 8.