Harrison Norman quiets River Ridge bats as Dalton closes in on subregion title

Staff Photo by Dan Henry / The Chattanooga Times Free Press- 4/8/16. Dalton High School's Cole Shelton (3) dives for a throw to third as River Ridge's nah Fitzgerald (3) rounds the bases at the Catamount's home field on April 8, 2016.
Staff Photo by Dan Henry / The Chattanooga Times Free Press- 4/8/16. Dalton High School's Cole Shelton (3) dives for a throw to third as River Ridge's nah Fitzgerald (3) rounds the bases at the Catamount's home field on April 8, 2016.
photo Staff Photo by Dan Henry / The Chattanooga Times Free Press- 4/8/16. Dalton High School's Cole Shelton (3) slides into home as River Ridge catcher Luke Berryhill fumbles with the ball at the Catamount's home field on April 8, 2016.

DALTON, Ga. - For the first time this baseball season the Dalton Catamounts needed a stopper, and Harrison Norman was more than ready to accept the role.

The sophomore left-hander limited suddenly hot River Ridge to two earned runs in six innings as Dalton avoided being swept in the Subregion 7A-AAAAA series with an 11-4 win. The Knights had scored 27 runs in winning the first two games, putting added pressure on Norman, who allowed six hits and worked through a couple of major jams.

"Harrison did a good job today keeping them off balance with some good off-speed pitches," Dalton coach Rhett Parrott said. "We needed him to have a big day, and we had some guys step up and have better at-bats today. I'm really proud of how they played today."

The Catamounts improved to 16-4 overall and 12-3 in subregion play with one series remaining. They hold a one-game lead over Sequoyah and have the tiebreaker after getting an early-season sweep.

The Dalton bats did good early work against River Ridge starter Haden Martin, with five hits and four runs in the first inning. Consecutive singles by Maddux Houghton, Cole Shelton and Brock Nelson plated one, Norman followed with a two-run triple and J.P. Tighe had an RBI single.

The Knights (12-8, 9-6) rallied for an unearned run in the third and made it a 4-3 game in the fourth on Ethan Anderson's two-out, two-run double. Norman maintained the lead by getting Parris Collins to fly out to left.

The Cats answered in the bottom half with five runs, including Houghton's three-run homer and a double steal with Nelson taking home after Shelton drew a throw stealing second. Tighe capped the big inning with an RBI double for a 9-3 lead.

River Ridge had Norman on the ropes on the sixth after two singles and a walk loaded the bases with one out. After a visit to the mound by Parrott, Norman struck out Collins and Noah Fitzgerald to end the threat.

"It's funny," Parrott said of his mound conversation. "I told him to keep doing what he was doing and to get us a double play. When he came into the dugout I told him that's not what I asked for but I will take it."

Added a laughing Norman of the big moment: "I didn't quite follow his command, but it worked out for us. I just tried to throw my pitches and hit my spots.

"This game was big. The first two set us back, and for the region's sake we needed to win this one. Not making the playoffs the past few years is something we think about a lot. We're striving to get back, and we want to host a series."

The Catamounts can guarantee a home series with two wins against last-place Woodland next week. That would set them up to play for the region championship the following week.

Tighe led Dalton's 12-hit attack with three hits. Houghton, Shelton and Thomas Wright added two hits each.

Contact Lindsey Young at lyoung@timesfreepress.com or at 423-757-6296; follow on Twitter @youngsports22

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