Woodland completes sweep of Hiram; Cass shutout twice at Calhoun
The Woodland Wildcats completed their three-game sweep of Hiram with a doubleheader sweep of the Hornets Friday night in Paulding County. The three wins helped Woodland move within one game of Cass in the region win column as the two local teams race for the fourth — and final — playoff spot in Region 7-AAAAA. Cass dropped all three games of the Colonels’ region series with 9th-ranked Calhoun this week, falling in both games of a doubleheader Friday night in Gordon County.
WOODLAND 6, HIRAM 1 (Game 1 of DH)
Woodland pitcher Peyton Posey allowed only two hits and a walk in five innings of work and four Wildcats had two hits each in a 6-1 win at Hiram.
Posey did not allow a run and struck out five to earn the pitching victory.
Carter Heath closed out the final two innings on the mound for the Wildcats. He yielded one earned run on no hits and four walks. Heath fanned four.
Chase Carson had two hits and two RBIs for Woodland. Jakiyon Porter contributed two hits including a double and one RBI. Scotty Smith and Trevor Montgomery added two hits apiece while Posey drove in a pair of runs in the second inning with a triple.
WOODLAND 18, HIRAM 3 (Game 2 of DH)
The Wildcats pounded out 14 hits and scored in all five offensive frames in the second game of Friday’s doubleheader at Hiram.
The win completed a three-game Region 7-AAAAA sweep for Woodland over the Hornets.
Peyton Posey had four hits including a pair of triples and three RBIs to lead the Wildcats offensive onslaught. J.T. Hampton had two hits including a double and two RBIs. Trevor Montgomery also doubled twice and drove in a run.
Julian Wright (triple, 3 RBIs), Jakiyon Porter (2 RBIs), Jacob Gravett (2 RBIs), Trevor Collum (RBI), Ayden Ray, and Scotty Smith (triple, RBI) contributed one hit each.
Ray (3 IP, 3R, 1ER, 1H, 3BB, 6K) picked up the Woodland pitching win. Drew Billings (1 IP, 0R, 0H, 2K) and Tucker Spivey (1 IP, 0R, 1H, 1BB) also pitched in the victory.
With the doubleheader loss, Hiram falls to 2-17 overall and 0-12 in Region 7-AAAAA.
Woodland (8-14, 4-8) returns to action Thursday and Friday in the Battle for Bartow Baseball Classic at LakePoint. The Wildcats will have games against Valdosta, Cedartown, and Landmark Christian.
CALHOUN 11, CASS 0 (Game 1 of DH)
Yellow Jackets’ pitcher Bryse Ingle tossed a five-inning, no-hitter in Friday’s first game at Calhoun to blank Cass, 11-0.
Ingle walked two and struck out six.
The game was scoreless for the first four and one-half innings, but Calhoun took a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the fourth on a solo home run by Parker Lester followed by two singles, a walk, and an infield fielding error.
The Yellow Jackets closed out the game with a nine-run fifth inning that included a grand slam home run by Jacob Tolson and a second home run — a three-run homer this time — by Lester.
Jayden Smith (4.2 IP, 9R, 5ER, 9H, 3BB, 5K) suffered the pitching loss for Cass. Chase Botts (0.0 IP, 2ER, 2H) also pitched for the Colonels in the fifth inning.
CALHOUN 5, CASS 0 (Game 2 of DH)
Pitchers Jordan Gani or Cass and Braden Saunders of Calhoun battled one another through five scoreless innings Friday night before the Yellow Jackets broke the game open in the bottom of the sixth.
Calhoun scored all five of their runs in the frame on an error, hit batsman, four hits and a walk.
Cass managed a pair of baserunners in the top of the seventh, but reliever Owen Hall got a strikeout to end the threat and secured Calhoun’s 5-0 victory.
Eight different Yellow Jackets had one hit each.
Carson Hill, Aidan Larkin, Thomas Botts, and Gani had one hit apiece for the Colonels.
Ninth-ranked Calhoun improved to 12-6 overall and 7-4 in Region 7-AAAAA.
Cass (6-13, 5-5) steps out of region action next week to play North Paulding and Cedartown in the Battle for Bartow Classic at LakePoint.
COAHULLA CREEK 10, ADAIRSVILLE 0
The visiting Colts defeated Adairsville Friday night, 10-0, in Region 6-AAA play. The Colts carried a 2-0 lead into the seventh inning and put the game away by pushing eight runs across in the top of the seventh.
Kyler Smith had the only hit in the game for Adairsville.
Adairsville starting pitcher Jack Whitley (5 IP, 2R, 0ER, 3H, 2BB, 3K) suffered the pitching loss despite allowing no earned runs. Wade Dooley (1 IP, 3R, 2ER, 0H, 4BB, 1K), Braden Powell (0.1 IP, 3ER, 0H, 1BB), and Dawson Craig (0.2 IP, 2R, 0ER, 1H, 1BB) pitched in relief for the Tigers.
The win improves Coahulla Creek to 5-11 on the season and 4-3 in region play.
Adairsville (7-9, 2-4) travels to Coahulla Creek Tuesday to complete the home-and-home series.
