RINGGOLD, Ga. — Like a child learning to walk, the Heritage Generals often find themselves taking one step back with every two steps forward. Thursday, in a crucial early-season Region 6-AAA game, the second-year baseball program did a little of each but did what was necessary when it counted the most.
The young Generals trailed early and later squandered a one-run lead but edged Catoosa County rival Lakeview-Fort Oglethorpe 6-5.
“This was a needed win for us,” Heritage coach Eric Beagles said. “With the way this region is, any time you can get one is crucial. To get down 3-0 to them and answer that and rally to tie it in the second inning was big for us. That’s what I’ve been telling them: Adversity is a part of the game, and you just have to embrace it and fight through it and keep battling. Fortunately, that’s what we were able to do tonight.”
The Warriors (9-3, 2-1) got two runs in the first inning on RBI singles by Dylan Culver and Tim Johnson, then added another on Culver’s two-out single in the second. Heritage (6-5, 1-2) rallied to tie the game in the bottom half on consecutive two-out singles from Colby Chattin, Lee Gibson, Cody Sherlin and Jarred McDade.
The Generals took the lead on Patrick Kolwyck’s single in the third and made it 5-3 on Chattin’s two-out single in the fifth. The Warriors scored single runs in the sixth and seventh innings to tie the game but left three runners on in each as Heritage freshman reliever Austin Morris got into, then out of jams.
That paid off in the bottom half when Jake Simpson reached on a two-base error, moved to third on a one-out wild pitch and scored the winning run on a sacrifice fly to deep center field by Brad McDonald.
LFO coach Brad Langford hoped his team learned something from the loss.
“Any time you play a team coached by Eric Beagles and you kick it around, they’re going to find a way to score some runs and beat you,” Langford said. “I hate it for our guys, but baseball is a roller coaster and you can’t get too low and don’t get too high.”