RINGGOLD, Ga. — It took all of three innings Wednesday for the 2010 Ringgold Tiger baseball team to take its place alongside the great teams in the storied history of the program. The Tigers blasted visiting Rutland 16-0 in the deciding game of the quarterfinal best-of-three series, becoming the eighth Ringgold team to reach the final four and first since 1987.
The Tigers (26-9) will travel to Oconee County on Monday after Oconee defeated Northside Columbus 10-6 Wednesday to win that quarterfinal series.
“They just came out today on our field and were ready from the start,” a beaming Ringgold coach Brent Tucker said. “They had that look in their eyes. They weren’t jumping up and down all over the place. Rather, they were very business-like and loose … a controlled looseness.
“It’s special to be the first team since 1987 to make the final four. You know it’s special to look out there and see fans filling this place up like they did today.”
Ringgold’s experience in deciding games, according to Tucker, was a key Wednesday. The Tigers had to win game three on the road in the first two rounds, while Rutland swept its first two opponents. Having used top starters Austin Torrey and Blake Shouse on Tuesday, Rutland coach Wally Pritchard turned to David Canady, who was not sharp from the start.
Ringgold batted around in the first and second innings, scoring six runs in each frame on six total hits. Canady hurt himself with six walks and two run-scoring wild pitches, and when the patient Tigers decided to swing, they hit it hard.
Caleb Jones had three hits, including a pair of ringing doubles, and an RBI; Adam Weldon had two hits and two RBIs; Erik Hull two hits and two RBIs and freshman Austin Parrish two hits, including a game-ending two-run homer.
GHSA Class AAA quarterfinalRINGGOLD 16, RUTLAND 0Rutland 000 — 0 1 2Ringgold 664 — 16 10 3WP: Corey Kafka. LP: David Canady. HR: Austin Parrish (Ri). 2B: Chance Gordon (Ru); Caleb Jones 2, Erik Hull (Ri). Other highlights: Jones 3-3, RBI; Hull 2-2, 2 RBIs; Parrish 1-2, 3 RBIs; Adam Weldon 2-3, 2 RBIs, 3 runs (Ri). Records: Ringgold 26-9; Rutland 17-13.
“They’ve been through a third game twice on the road, so they felt real comfortable today, especially being here,” Tucker said. “We wanted them to be aggressive in the zone, but not to chase. They executed that perfectly. We took our walks, but there weren’t many balls we put into play that weren’t stung.”
Ringgold pitcher Corey Kafka set the tone with a one-two-three top of the first inning, then, with the big lead, coasted through three innings. He allowed just one hit and worked through three Ringgold errors to post the abbreviated shutout.
Jones, who had six hits in the three games, said the Tigers were well aware of what was at stake history-wise and that the team’s first two rounds prepared them for Wednesday’s game.
“It feels like we’ve accomplished something,” Jones said. “We’ve been in this second-day situation in every round, so we knew what to expect. We were a little disappointed we didn’t take care of it yesterday, but that’s baseball and we knew we would come out ready today.”