TUNNEL HILL, Ga. -- Northwest Whitfield followed a popular script on sweeping away Madison County in the first round of the Georgia Class AAAA baseball playoffs Friday.
Winning by identical 4-2 scores in the doubleheader, the games were as similar as the scores. The Bruins (15-7) trailed early in each, got big hits in the middle innings and used consistently strong pitching from three hurlers to eliminate the Region 8 No. 3 seed.
Northwest will travel to face Veteran's in a best-of-three set beginning Wednesday. Veteran's, the No. 1 seed from Region 2, swept Cairo on Friday.
"Our pitching has been very good all year, and all three guys we used tonight did a great job," Northwest coach Todd Middleton said. "Our seniors stepped up today, including some big hits from Edwin (Hernandez) and Will (Brock)."
The news wasn't all positive, however, as No. 1 starter Logan Hilton left game one after being hit on his pitching arm while batting in the fourth inning. He left with a splint on the arm, though Middleton said afterward that the arm was just bruised.
Hilton left trailing 2-0, but Northwest scored one run in the fourth and took control in the fifth with three runs. Brock tied the game with a two-out double, and hot-hitting Hernandez doubled in two later in the inning.
Reliever Henson Gibbs replaced Hilton and did not allow a hit or run over the final three innings.
Northwest Whitfield's Will Brock, left, makes the tag on Madison County's Dylan Gentry at second base in the first round GHSA Class AAAA playoff double header on Friday, May 1 2015."That was the first big-game experience for Henson, and we couldn't have asked for more," Middleton said.
Madison jumped out front in game two 1-0 on Noah Rogers' leadoff homer in the second inning, but the Red Raiders stranded eight runners over the first four innings to let Northwest starter Phillip Hammonds off the hook.
That came back to haunt them in the fifth when three errors and Brock's two-run double gave Northwest a 3-1 lead. Caleb Shiflett's RBI single in the seventh gave the Bruins an insurance run, which they nearly needed.
Golston Gillespie had a two-out solo homer, followed by an infield error and a hit batter. Hammonds, though, got Zack Kerns to ground into a fielder's choice to end the game.
"We kept our heads today, figured some things out and won two big games," Brock said. "We were pretty motivated today, because a lot of people thought they would come in here and win."
* In Class AAA, Cedartown split two games at Calhoun, the host Yellow Jackets winning 3-1 and the Bulldogs then prevailing 4-3. Game three will be played today at 2 at Calhoun.
Contact Lindsey Young at lyoung@timesfreepress.com or at 423-757-6296.