RINGGOLD, Ga. — Heritage High School baseball coach Eric Beagles stuck with his starter, and it worked for the Generals.
Ringgold coach Brent Tucker did swap pitchers and took a 3-2 loss against the Tigers’ crosstown Region 6-AAA rival Thursday evening.
The Tigers led until the bottom of the sixth inning, when Heritage freshman Jacob Carter crushed a fastball from Clemson-bound sophomore left-hander Matt Crownover to the center-field fence. That scored Brad McDonald and courtesy runner Austin Morris.
Ringgold center fielder Austin Parrish was shading Carter to right field because Crownover throws almost 90 mph and few hitters are able to get around on his fastball.
“At first, I didn’t think about it, but when I hit it I thought, ‘That could be in the gap,'” said Carter, who was thrown out trying to stretch the hit into a triple. “He threw it really hard and I tried to make the best contact I could, and it worked out.”
Heritage starter Cody Sherlin took the mound in the seventh inning and allowed runners to advance to third and second, but he induced a foul pop from Zach Lance to end the game. The win improved the Generals to 12-8, 5-5 in the region.
“You can tell when a guy wants it,” Beagles said. “You can just tell they’re in the moment and enjoying the heck out of it. Cody was up for the challenge.”
Sherlin allowed seven hits with one strikeout in his complete game. Ringgold’s Colton Cross and Caleb Jones had back-to-back RBIs in the third inning for the Tigers (18-5, 9-2). Heritage scored its first run on a fielder’s choice that plated Hunter White in the fifth.
Ringgold starter Corey Kafka allowed one run, four hits, four walks and struck out six before Crownover moved from center field to pitcher. Crownover went 2-for-3 with a run and was stranded at second in the final inning.
“That’s an awesome win,” Sherlin said. “It’s pretty awesome.”