Friday's Battle for Bartow results: Canes push win streak to 15

The Cartersville Purple Hurricanes extended their current winning streak to 15 games last week with three wins in the 2023 Battle for Bartow. The Canes won earlier in the week on their home field over Cedartown and then swept a pair of games Friday at LakePoint over Sandy Creek and Decatur.

In other Battle for Bartow action Friday involving local teams, Woodland dropped a decision with Alexander to finish 1-2 in the event while Cass lost twice and was 0-3 for the tournament.

CARTERSVILLE 5, SANDY CREEK 1

The Canes trailed 1-0 heading to the sixth inning Friday afternoon before posting five runs in their final two offensive frames for a 5-1 win at LakePoint in a Battle for Bartow contest.

Cartersville pitchers Phillip Schiltz and Nicholas Hruby combined for ten strikeouts and limited the Patriots to a lone run in the second inning.

Schiltz (5 IP, 1R, 0ER 3H, 0BB, 9K) started on the mound and finished off the first five innings while recording nine strikeouts. Hruby (2 IP, 0R, 0H, 0BB, 1K) struck out one and closed out the final two frames facing only one over the minimum.

Five Hurricanes contributed one hit each on offense.

Isaac McNair-Seigler (two RBIs), Landon Cole (double), Miles Owen, Caleb Daniel, and Hunter Kelly (RBI) had the Cartersville base hits. Kaden Stephenson added a sacrifice fly for one RBI.

CARTERSVILLE 3, DECATUR 2 (12 inn.)

The Purple Hurricanes extended their current winning streak to fifteen games Friday night by outlasting Decatur 3-2 in 12 innings in their 2023 Battle for Bartow finale at LakePoint.

The two teams battled scoreless through seven innings.

Sawyer Wilson started on the mound for Cartersville and scattered seven hits with two strikeouts. Ellington Hodge also worked seven shutout innings before giving up a pair of runs in the eighth. Hodge recorded four strikeouts in his start for the Bulldogs.

The Canes, playing as the visitors, broke the ice with two runs in the top of the eighth but Decatur matched those runs in the bottom of the inning.

The battle continued into the twelfth inning when the Hurricanes took the lead for good on Paul Gamble’s RBI double.

Nate Russell took the mound for Cartersville in the bottom of the frame and closed out the game by facing the minimum. He had one strikeout.

Logan Shrewsbury (4 IP, 2R, 0ER, 4H, 4BB, 5K) also pitched for Cartersville, retiring a dozen outs in the eighth through eleventh innings.

Kaden Stephenson contributed three hits including a double for the Canes’ offense. Harrison Childers finished with two hits with one RBI. Miles Owen (RBI), Luke Miller, and Gamble (RBI double) had the other Cartersville hits.

With their loss, Decatur slipped to 14-6 on the season.

Top-ranked Cartersville (21-2) returns to Region 7-5A action Tuesday at home with a doubleheader against Cass.

ALEXANDER 8, WOODLAND 5

Woodland led Alexander 5-4 going to the seventh inning Friday night at LakePoint but the Cougars took advantage of four timely hits and a hit batsman in the seventh inning to score four runs to take an 8-5 win.

The game was played as part of the 2023 Battle for Bartow.

The two teams traded the lead five times and the score was tied twice in the contest.

Zach Lambert (2 IP, 4ER, 5H, 0BB, 2K) suffered the pitching loss for the Wildcats in relief of starter Ayden Ray (4 IP, 2R, 1ER, 2H, 4BB, 5K). Connor Stermer (1 IP, 2ER, 2H) also pitched and recorded the final three outs in the seventh.

Ray led the Woodland offense with four hits including one double. Julian Wright hit a two-run home run in the bottom of the fifth inning that tied the game 3-3 at the time. Jakiyon Porter had one hit and two RBIs. Chase Carson (RBI) and Joshua Hicks had the other Wildcat base hits.

Alexander improved to 16-8 on the season.

Woodland (12-12, 6-3) returns to Region 7-5A play next week with a three-game series against Calhoun. The Wildcats will host a doubleheader Tuesday starting at 5 p.m. and play at Calhoun on Thursday.

HERITAGE-CATOOSA 15, CASS 1

In the Colonels’ first of two games Friday at LakePoint in the Battle for Bartow, Heritage-Catoosa scored a dozen runs over the first three innings and a quartet of Generals’ pitchers combined to no-hit the Colonels in a 15-1 rout.

Cass took advantage of two walks and one hit batsman in the first inning to score a run, but did not produce a hit in the game.

The Colonels utilized four pitchers of their own.

Hunter Lovett (1.1 IP, 9R, 4ER, 4H, 4BB, 3K) started on the mound and suffered the pitching loss. Justin Peace (0.2 IP, 3R, 2ER, 2H, 2BB), Wesley Collins (2.1 IP, 3ER, 2H, 4BB, 1K), and Chase Tatum (0.2 IP, 0R, 2H, 1BB, 1K) also pitched for Cass.

JC Armour, Taylor Vinson, Ryland Black-Long, and Grayson May combined for the Generals’ no-hitter.

Heritage improved to 17-7 on the season.

WHITEWATER 7, CASS 6

In both teams’ final game at the 2023 Battle for Bartow, Whitewater grabbed a 5-0 lead in the top of the first inning and never trailed in a 7-6 win over Cass.

Cass scored single runs in the first and third innings to make the score 5-2. The two teams then matched runs in the fourth and sixth innings to leave the Colonels trailing 7-4 heading into the final inning.

Cass added two more runs in the bottom of the seventh and had the potential tying run in scoring position, but a strikeout and a groundout ended the Colonels’ rally.

Devan Hutchinson (4 IP, 6R, 5ER, 6H, 2BB, 2K) was tagged with the Cass pitching loss. Cayden Roberts (3 IP, 1R, 0ER, 1H, 1BB, 1K) retired the final nine outs.

Hunter Lovett had a pair of doubles for the Colonels’ offense. Connor Jenkins and Chase Tatum finished with one hit and two RBIs each. Jesiel Moctezum, Roberts, and Wesley Collins contributed one hit each.

Whitewater improved to 15-10 on the season.

The Colonels (10-12, 5-4) have now dropped six straight games and will face No. 1-ranked Cartersville in a three-game Region 7-5A series Tuesday and Thursday. The first two games will be at Richard Bell Field on Tuesday starting at 5 p.m. The third game of the series will be at the Cass High Athletic Complex on Thursday.