Wildcats come up short at Paulding, 5-3

The Woodland Wildcats scored three runs in their first three frames and had the game tied at 3-all at Paulding County Friday evening, but a two-run bottom of the third was all the host Patriots needed for a 5-3 win.

Both pitching staffs held their opponents scoreless over the final three and one-half frames.

Woodland led 1-0 in the top of the first inning on a pair of walks and an infield RBI single by Rowan Billings.

Paulding County answered with three runs in the bottom of the first on a pair of Wildcat errors and two singles.

The Wildcats tied the score in the top of the third with a two-RBI double by Austin Sanders. Then Paulding scored the two go-ahead runs in the bottom of the third on two hits, a walk, and a pair of hit batsmen.

Conner Stermer, Ayden Ray, and Chase Carson had one hit each for the Wildcats.

Julian Wright (3 IP, 5R, 2ERE, 4H, 1BB, 3K) was tagged with the pitching loss. Hunter Shirley (3 IP, 0R, 2H, 1BB, 4K) retired the final nine outs for the Wildcats.

Woodland (1-1) hosts Rome Wednesday at 5:55 p.m.