State finals roundup (May 21, 2018)

Posted 5/21/18

There will be deciding Game 3s in Classes 4A and 3A on Wednesday.

Classes 4A, 3A will have deciding Game 3s

Class 4A
Jefferson and Cartersville split the first two games of the Georgia High School Association Class 4A state championship Monday night at State Mutual Stadium in Rome. The two teams will play a winner-take-all Game 3 Wednesday in Rome.

The time will be determined after Tuesday's games.

Jefferson won the first game, 5-4, but Cartersville answered with a 9-3 victory in the nightcap to force the third and deciding game.

In Game 1, Jefferson took a 4-0 lead in the first inning on a barrage of hits. Lane Watkins had an RBI triple, Clayton Jones added an RBI double and Billy Finch and Mason Cooper added RBI singles to give starter Patrick Hickox an early lead.

Ryan Godfrey's RBI single in the fifth gave the Dragons a commanding 5-0 lead before Cartersville came charging back.

Cartersville cut the deficit to 5-3 in the sixth with Anthony Seigler's RBI triple highlighting the inning. The Hurricanes added another in the seventh but couldn't draw any closer.

Hickox earned the complete-game victory, allowing four runs (two earned) on seven hits. Godfrey went 3 for 4 to lead Jefferson's offensive attack.
Seigler and Preston Welchel each had two hits in the Game 1 loss for Cartersville.

But the Hurricanes jumped out to an early lead in Game 2. Nate Gooch's RBI double in the first made it 1-0. Jefferson's Sam Elegreet tied the game at 1 with an RBI single in the second before the Hurricanes took the lead for good.

RBI singles from Ian Inaba and Welchel in the second made it 3-1. Cartersville added two more in the third, three more in the fourth and a run in the sixth to pad its lead. Brant Smith led the offense going 2 for 3 to help Seigler earn the victory on the mound.

Watkins, Godfrey, Finch and Kade McNally finished with two hits each for Jefferson, who outhit Cartersville 10-6. The Dragons also made four errors in the game.

Class 3A
Charles Gibson's RBI groundout in the top of the seventh scored the go-ahead run for Lovett and the Lions held on for a 7-6 victory over Westminster in Game 2 of the Georgia High School Association Class 3A state baseball championship series at Mercer University's OrthoGeorgia Park Monday night.

The victory sets up a decisive Game 3 Wednesday between the two Region 5 rivals after Westminster took the Game 1 victory, 6-2.

After Westminster took a commanding 3-0 lead in the fourth inning of the second game, Lovett scored six runs in the top of the sixth to take a 6-3 lead.

Westminster, however, rallied to tie with three runs of its own before Lovett scratched home the go-ahead run in the seventh and helped pitcher David Underwood earn the victory in relief of starter Ben O'Meara.

Will Seiler went 2 for 4 lead the Lovett offense.

In Game 1, Westminster's Peter York had the game of his life to help the Wildcats to a 6-2 victory. Westminster scored a run in the first inning on Parks Harber's sacrifice fly, scoring York who led off the inning with a triple. The Wildcats then added three more in the top of the second on a three-run homer from York to take a commanding 4-0 advantage.

York then added a solo homer in the top of the fourth to help Westminster grab a commanding 5-0 advantage before Lovett scored its only two runs on an RBI groundout from Robert Poindexter followed by an RBI double from Seiler.

Luke Jannetta earned the victory on the mound for the Wildcats, allowing just two runs on four hits. York finished 3 for 4 with a pair of homers and four RBIs to lead the Westminster offense, while Jack Polhemus also finished 3 for 4.

Grayson Nix and Seiler had doubles for Lovett.