RINGGOLD, Ga. - It didn't take long for Heritage's baseball team to gain some self-assuredness in Wednesday's best-of-three series in the second round of the Class AAAA state playoffs.
It started in the top of the first, carried over into the bottom half of the inning, and when the day was over the Generals had swept Wayne County 11-1 and 5-1 and will now move on to the quarterfinals.
The advancement this far is the first in program history for Heritage (23-7). The Generals will next play either North Hall or Locust Grove. Those teams split Wednesday and will play a deciding game today.
"They just seem to be unfazed," Heritage coach Eric Beagles said of his players. "Their approach has been good. They're having a lot of fun. They set some goals early in the year, and they're doing what they need to do to obtain them. I'm proud of them."
Beagles noted the handling of a difficult chance by third baseman Jonathan Hickman early on as being the spark that started it all.
"That just kind of set the tone for us," Beagles said. "It gave us a lot of confidence defensively, and we kind of fed off of it."
Then in the Generals' half of the first, Joseph Hill walked and Noah Hill followed with a blast over the center-field fence. Joseph Hill singled in each of his other three at-bats, including driving in a run in the fourth and plating two in a six-run fifth, which proved to be the final inning via the 10-run mercy rule.
"I just tried to get on base like a leadoff batter should," said Hill, who scored three runs in the opener and started a three-run sixth in the second game with an infield single. "I went up there looking for fastballs on the first pitch. If I got down 0-2, I tried to fight off anything close and look for something good as much as possible."
Noah Hill also had three RBIs in the first game, including driving in the final run with a double in the fifth. He scored twice.
"Joseph and Noah have been doing that all year for us," Beagles said. "They have really good approaches, they see the ball well, and it shows."
Dylan Bice was the beneficiary of the run support in the first game. He limited the Yellow Jackets to two hits and an unearned run while striking out six. He walked two.
Pitcher Cole Wilcox helped himself with a first-inning home run in the nightcap and Lance Dockery made it 2-0 with a shot to left-center the next inning. Wilcox gave up four hits and four walks. He also had six strikeouts.
Joseph Hill said getting runs early provided momentum and the Generals were able to maintain plenty of energy throughout both games.
"It gives your pitchers confidence when you get a lead for them and gives confidence to the defense, too," Hill said.
Wilcox and Bice each hit run-scoring singles in Heritage's three-run sixth, which included two Wayne County errors. The Yellow Jackets had five errors in the opener.
"The biggest thing we were able to do was put the ball in play," Beagles said. "Don't punch out and it makes people have to defend you. They made a couple of miscues that we were able to take advantage of.
"It's high school baseball. When you get a break, expose it. They were able to do that."
Contact Kelley Smiddie at ksmiddie@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6653. Follow him on Twitter @KelleySmiddie.