RINGGOLD, Ga. - Ringgold High School got timely hitting and strong pitching and swept its first-round Class AAA state playoff series with 5-1 and 4-1 victories over Banks County on Friday evening.
This is the seventh straight year the Tigers have reached the second round of the state playoffs, but they never have won a state title. They were runners-up in 2012, but Ringgold coach Brent Tucker said he thinks "this team has got it in 'em" to win it all this season.
Wednesday, Ringgold (22-6) will host the winner of the Laney/Peach County series.
"The two seniors took the mound tonight. Devin Lancaster in game one threw a great game. Peyton Tennant in game two did a lot of the same," Tucker said. "You put the ball in the seniors' hand and you let them roll, and both of them gave us a great performance tonight."
"We feel like we can hit the ball up and down the lineup, and we did tonight," Tucker added. "We've got to get a few bigger hits. We feel like we've got a lot of guys who can go on the mound and keep us in ballgames. And that's exactly what happened tonight.
"We put pressure on them all the way through the night. On the mound, we were pretty dominant tonight. There are 16 teams left in the state of Georgia with quality teams throughout the state."
Nathan Camp batted in two Ringgold runs in the first game Friday, and Hunter Foskey was 3-for-4 with a home run and two RBIs in game two, when Rhett Baldwin also was 3-for-4.
Contact Jeff Rancudo at sports@timesfreepress.com