RINGGOLD, Ga. – The visiting Redan Raiders pushed Ringgold to the brink Saturday afternoon, but a big inning and a clutch relief pitching performance enabled the top-ranked Tigers to avoid a major first-round upset in the GHSA Class AAA state baseball tournament.
Daulton Schley drove in four runs and Andre Tarver reached base five times as the Tigers wore down the Raiders’ pitching staff and earned a 13-6 victory in the deciding game of the best-of-three series. The Tigers will host Franklin County in the second round beginning Thursday.
Franklin County (19-14) advanced with a 10-9 walk-off win over Fannin County in another game three Saturday.
Ringgold (29-5) took advantage of Redan’s No. 3 pitcher, sophomore Donye Evans, while the Tigers had senior Nate Camp held back for game three. Evans pitched into the fifth inning but allowed a four-run second when his defense faltered with a pair of errors. Schley, Ty Jones and John Camilucci all had RBI singles in the inning.
But the Tigers’ big blow was a three-run home run by Schley, who led the Tigers in RBIs during the regular season. It followed RBI singles by Wyatt Tennant and Brayden Broome and made the score 12-2. That would end Evans’ day on the mound, and his disappointment was apparent to all.
But if the Tigers entertained any ideas about a run-rule victory, Redan’s high-powered offense dissuaded them. Batting as the home team, the Raiders got a three-run homer from Kelvin Smith at the end of an at-bat in which he fouled one pitch off his knee and another off the bat knob, injuring a finger.
Ringgold answered with a solo home run from Jones, who had two RBIs Saturday after driving home all three of the team’s runs in Friday’s doubleheader. Setting the table all day long was Tarver, who reached base on a pair of doubles, two walks and a hit by pitch, one of four Evans delivered on slow curveballs that didn’t bend.
“Coach (Brent) Tucker got us fired up,” the junior center fielder admitted. “He wants us playing the way we’re capable. This was a hard draw, and we’re very glad to get past them.”
Tucker denied that Friday’s postgame meeting was anything extraordinary.
“Stretching,” he replied. “We just did some stretching. Told you Friday that Redan is a heck of a team. I just talked to a couple of (pro) scouts who were here looking at a couple of their guys as well as a couple of ours. If they’re not the most talented team in Georgia, then they’re one of them.”
But the Raiders’ bats were silenced in the late innings by Tennant, who was able to shake off his awful game-two start. Tennant retired six up, six down to end the game. The win belonged to Andrew Ghormley, who had to finish the fifth inning for a tiring Camp after Smith’s home run.
“One reason we got Wyatt out of there so quickly Friday was before he’d thrown 40 pitches,” Tucker said. “That was the only way he’d be able to pitch today.”
Contact David Jenkins at sports@timesfreepress.com.