CALHOUN, Ga. - Ask Brent Tucker to name the one thing the coach wants each of his Ringgold High School baseball teams to do, and the answer comes quickly.
Battle. The Tigers did just that Friday night to pull out a 7-4 win at Calhoun, scoring six runs in the seventh inning after having no one on base and two outs.
"You look at the first six innings, we had two lefties out there pitching their tails off, but people will look at the final score and believe this was a wild one," Tucker said, referring to Calhoun starter Davis Allen and Ringgold's Holden Tucker. "Well, the seventh inning was, but before that the two pitchers were dominant.
"The guys stayed in there and battled. We got into their bullpen and took advantage of some things, and now we're going to get out of here before they make us play another inning."
Ringgold (18-3) improved to 10-1 in Region 6-AAA while dropping the Yellow Jackets to 12-10, 7-5.
Sophomore left-hander Allen had shut down the usually potent Ringgold lineup for six innings, allowing six hits and striking out eight, with the only run coming on Ty Jones' squeeze bunt in the second inning.
Likewise, Ringgold's Tucker was strong, allowing five hits and a run over the first five innings before Bryson Davis' RBI single in the sixth chased him and put the Yellow Jackets up 2-1.
Then things got crazy.
Calhoun freshman Matthew Williams replaced Allen and easily got a strikeout and groundout to start the seventh. However, Rhett Baldwin and Andre Tarver walked, and Noah Parrish reached on an infield error, scoring one to tie the game.
A wild pitch plated Tarver for the go-ahead run, and consecutive walks to Tyler Nichols and Hunter Ricketts loaded the bases. Jones then took reliever Austin Trammell's pitch into the gap for a three-run double before scoring two batters later on Nathan Camp's single for a 7-2 lead.
"This is a crazy environment, and to get a region win after being down in the seventh was big," Jones said. "Hat's off to their pitcher. He's a phenomenal pitcher, and when he came out we felt like we had a chance."
The fun wasn't over, though. Ringgold reliever Ricketts faced five batters, walking four and allowing a hit before Baldwin came on to settle things down. With the bases loaded and the tying run on first, the team's No. 1 starting pitcher got a popout and two strikeouts to end the game.
"Rhett had not even been in the bullpen, but once he got loose, he did a great job," Coach Tucker said.
"This was a complete team victory. We used everybody, and this was the kind of win that comes in the early part of the season when you use everybody. But here we are 23 games into the season, and here we are."
Contact Lindsey Young at lyoung@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6296. Follow him on Twitter @youngsports22.