RINGGOLD, Ga. — For Ringgold and Lakeview-Fort Oglethorpe, winning Tuesday’s baseball game was want more than must.
Longstanding rivalry aside, the six-inning 10-0 victory proved Ringgold wanted it more than its cross-county opponent.
The teams were jockeying for postseason positioning, and the win locked the host Tigers into Region 6-AAA’s No. 3 seed with one league game remaining.
“The worst we can do is four losses, so we locked up third,” said Ringgold coach Brent Tucker, who let his team out of postgame field work by way of celebration. “That was our 19th win and we’d like to get that 20th win because we’re looking for momentum going into the state playoffs.”
There was little doubt that Tucker wanted any postseason apprehension gone as quickly as possible, especially after he penciled in sophomore standout Matthew Crownover to pitch.