RINGGOLD, Ga. - North Hall High School baseball coach Trevor Flow said his team needed to play perfect baseball to defeat Ringgold in Thursday's GHSA Class AAA quarterfinal doubleheader.
The Trojans maybe weren't perfect, but the Tigers were far below their usual level of play in a 4-2, 6-5 sweep for the visitors.
North Hall (25-11) will host upstart Calhoun in next Wednesday's semifinal round. The Yellow Jackets defeated Lovett, 2-0, in Thursday's deciding game three.
Ringgold (29-8) held leads in each of its games, but the pitching of North Hall's Reese Olson in game one and one horrific defensive inning in the rematch proved to be too much for the Region 6 champions.
"Baseball breathes and sometimes it just goes against you," Ringgold coach Brent Tucker said. "The boys will look back and realize they had a great year, but for whatever reason today it was meant to end. I appreciate this senior class. They are leaving with three region championships and 99 wins, so I am very proud of them and the men they have become."
The Tigers took a 2-0 lead in the first inning of the first game on Andre Tarver's home run, but Olson allowed only two hits over the next five innings and was the beneficiary of some stellar defense. The game was tied entering the fifth when the Trojans strung together three consecutive singles off Holden Tucker and scored three runs on a fielder's choice, an error and Jackson Latty's single.
Ringgold had a chance in the seventh, but Ty Jones' deep drive to center field was tracked down by Dylan Lavender with a man on base to spoil the threat.
Game two will haunt the Tigers, who out-hit the Trojans 11-5 and had three home runs and two doubles. Those homers - solo shots by Nathan Camp, Tyler Nichols and Jones - had Ringgold up 3-1 after two innings.
However, the visitors scored three runs in the third inning on just one hit. There were three errors and two mental mistakes when the Tigers tried to get lead runners instead of the safe out at first base.
"We had a bad inning and I just don't know why," Coach Tucker said. "Still, though, we came back and took the lead."
Down one in the fifth, the Tigers had three consecutive one-out hits, including back-to-back doubles from Tarver and Noah Parrish, and Tyler Nichols' sacrifice fly to regain the lead, 5-4.
The Trojans, though, put two on with two out to chase Ringgold starting pitcher Rhett Baldwin, including an error that tied the game. Reliever Hunter Ricketts was then greeted by John Michael Montgomery's RBI triple.
After leaving the bases loaded in the sixth, Ringgold had one last chance in the seventh after Dalton Schley doubled with two outs. North Hall reliever Austin Adams ended the drama by getting Gavin Hollis to fly out to deep right.
"I believe in this group, even when things weren't going our way earlier in the season," Flow said. "Every series it's been somebody different. Today, small ball, big hits and great plays, and that's what it had to be because Ringgold is a great baseball team. It took two perfect games to beat them."
' In Class AAAAAA, Dalton held a brief 1-0 lead before powerful Pope rallied to score the next nine runs in a 9-2 loss, eliminating the Catamounts. Jared Miller had three hits, including a homer and two doubles, and drove in five runs for Pope. Maddux Houghton had a pair of hits while Harrison Hughes and Sam Stepp had an RBI each for Dalton.
' In Class AAA, Calhoun rode a dominating pitching performance from sophomore left-hander Davis Allen to defeat Lovett. Allen pitched a complete-game three-hitter and struck out eight as the No. 4 seed Yellow Jackets earned a semifinal berth. Calhoun had two hits each from Bryson Davis and Austin Trammell.
Region 6 No. 3 seed Coahulla Creek swept its way into the semifinals Wednesday.
Contact Lindsey Young at lyoung@timesfreepress.com or at 423-757-6296. Follow him on Twitter @youngsports22.