TUNNEL HILL, Ga. — As Will Kiker stood at the plate with one out in the top of the sixth inning in a tied baseball game, all he wanted was a chance at redemption.
The Dalton High School junior pitcher had grounded into a bases-loaded, inning-ending double play in the second inning at Northwest Whitfield, and now he saw his chance to help himself. After slapping a hard single to left, the speedy Kiker stole second and went to third as the throw went into center field. Moments later, with the Northwest infield in, he scored on Mitch Townsend’s grounder to shortstop to propel the Catamounts to a 5-4 Region 7-AAAA win.
“I was trying to flush that out of my mind because I ended the second inning with the bases loaded,” said Kiker, who improved to 4-1 on the mound with six innings of good work. “I wanted to redeem myself and get on base any way possible. On that ground ball, all I thought about was scoring. He looked me back, but as soon as he made the throw I was going. He probably had me if he had gone to third.”
Dalton (10-4, 4-1) won despite being outhit 8-6 and having only one extra-base hit to three for the Bruins. Helping the Cats’ cause, though, were two errors — including the one in the sixth — that led to three unearned runs. In the fourth, trailing 3-1, Colton Kinnamon and Tate Howell scored on an infield error as part of a three-run inning.
Though still concerned about his team’s recent hitting woes, Dalton coach Bobby Brotherton was pleased his team found a way to defeat its biggest rival.
“Any time Dalton plays Northwest and gets a win, we’re all happy,” he said. “Will had a big day. Last year he ran so much and stole so many bases, but this year he’s struggled early with the bat. Now he’s coming around, and it showed tonight. He also did a nice job on the mound keeping them off balance. We’ve just got to get better hitting wise, especially with runners in scoring position.”
Kiker battled through the first four innings, allowing four runs (three earned) on six hits but stranding six runners. However, after giving up a double to Conner Jones in the fourth, he retired the next eight batters before Kinnamon came in and recorded a save with a 1-2-3 seventh.
Kiker and Howell each had two hits for the Cats, while Jordan Darnell and Cody Jones had two each for the Bruins.