RINGGOLD, Ga. -- Devin Lancaster never dreamed it would be the fourth week of the baseball season before he recorded a pitching win, and a week after seeing that elusive "W" get away in a seventh-inning meltdown against Calhoun, the Ringgold right-hander wasn't about to let it happen again Tuesday.
The junior allowed a first-inning home run and escaped a one-out, bases-loaded situation in the second inning before settling in as the Tigers handed Adairsville its first Region 6-AAA loss with a 5-1 win at Bill Womack Field.
After four losses in which Ringold committed more than 10 errors, Lancaster was all smiles after allowing six hits and striking out seven without a walk.
"It finally worked out for me tonight," he said. "Last week was rough, but the bats are getting hot and everything is coming together."
Following Sean McDermott's homer in the first inning, the Tigers didn't take long to get the lead for good as senior first baseman Zach Morris delivered a two-out, two-run homer in the bottom half. The game remained 2-1 until Morris led off the fourth with a double and scored two batters later on Garrett Peeples' single.
However, Ringgold had the bases loaded with no one out after the Peeples' hit but did not score again. The inning clearly frustrated coach Brent Tucker, who sensed a chance to put the game away.
"We left some runs out there that inning, which is an area we've stressed lately," he said. "That's why the sixth inning was so big."
After leaving two more runners on in the fifth, Ringgold finally got the insurance it needed in the sixth. Cade Gilbert doubled to lead off and was sacrificed to third by Jordan Ransom. Pinch-hitter Hunter Foskey then stroked an RBI double to center, stole second and scored on a wild pitch to make it 5-1.
"Hunter had a big pinch hit there in the sixth that kind of opened things up, then made a good read on that passed ball," Tucker praised. "At 3-1, they had their 1-2-3 hitters coming up in the seventh and they're dangerous, so to get those two runs was huge."
Lancaster, who had stranded runners at second and third in the sixth, agreed.
"When we got those extra runs in the sixth, it gave us some breathing room," he said. "That took a lot of the pressure off, and then Zach made the play of the game."
An infield error allowed Adairsville's Sam Seaman to reach base leading off the seventh, but Reed Spencer followed with a hard-hit one-hopper to Morris at first. The Duke University football signee gobbled up the grounder, stepped on first and threw Seaman out at second. Lancaster then got McDermott to pop out to end the game.
"My bat is finally waking up," Morris said. "This game was big for us after what happened against Calhoun last week. We took that game hard. We're supposed to win that game up 6-1, but we choked. We had a big talk after that and we realized we were playing too tight. It was real bad, but we're now playing like we know we can. You have to have some fun."
Morris and Jacob Justice had two hits each for the winners, now 7-6 overall and one of four 6-AAA teams with one loss.
Contact Lindsey Young at lyoung@timesfreepress.com or at 423-757-6296.