Cartersville Little League Intermediate 50/70 team wins state championship

July 9, 2023 Charles Wilson / Bartow Sports Zone

The Cartersville Little League Intermediate 50/70 baseball team defeated Martinez Evans Little League in two straight games Saturday just outside of Augusta to win a best-of-three series and capture the 2023 Georgia state championship.

The two teams reached the state title series by winning their respective Georgia districts. Cartersville represented District 1 and Martinez Evans was the District 6 representative.

The Intermediate (50/70) Division of Little League is for 11 to 13-year-olds on a field with a 50-foot pitching distance and 70-foot base paths.

Cartersville 13U dominated the series with a 16-1 win in four innings to take the opener and an 18-0 blanking of MELL in Game 2 to clinch the series.

Brant Rutledge struck out 11 in the first game and allowed just a single, unearned run on one hit and three walks. In Game 2 a trio of Cartersville hurlers — Luke Thompson, Cam Kachinsky, and Colton Dunagan — combined for a no-hitter and totaled eight strikeouts.

The Cartersville offense rattled off 23 hits in the doubleheader sweep.

Aiden Turner paced the attack with four hits including a triple and five RBIs while Dunagan followed with three hits that included a triple, two home runs, and six RBIs.

River Wade had three hits including a pair of doubles and one RBI. Noah Kearney also finished with three hits in the doubleheader.

Kachinsky contributed a pair of hits including a triple and three RBIs. Rutledge had two hits and one RBI with a sacrifice fly. Easton Lee drove in two runs with two hits while Steven Tumlin also finished with a pair of hits. Caden McMullin (two RBIs) and Thompson added one hit each.

Cartersville 13U advances to the Intermediate Southeast Regional tournament July 15-18 in Kernersville, North Carolina to compete against teams from seven other states including Alabama, Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia.

The Southeast Regional winner will advance to the Little League Intermediate Baseball World Series from July 30 through August 6 in Livermore, California.