Staff Photo by Dan Henry / The Chattanooga Times Free Press- 5/8/17. Ringgold’s Noah Parrish (20) is greeted by his entire team after hitting a home run against Appling Co. while at the Tiger’s home field on May 8, 2017.
RINGGOLD, Ga. – The Ringgold High School baseball team unleashed two days of pent-up frustration Monday at Bill Womack Field.
Fortunately for the future of the program, all that energy was focused on the opponent. The Tigers rapped out 14 hits, slugged four home runs – two by Noah Parrish – and won a mercy-rule shortened game, 12-1, over Appling County.
Ringgold (29-6) will host North Hall at 5 p.m.Thursday in a doubleheader start to a Class AAA quarterfinal best-of-three series.
“Honestly, Saturday I was afraid we were going to kill each other,” Ringgold coach Brent Tucker said. “They were just mad at themselves, and today they came out here with a purpose.”
That anger stemmed from having Thursday’s opener washed out after three innings, then not starting the series until Saturday, when the teams split after the Tigers couldn’t hold an early game-two lead. There was no such problem Monday as a top of the order that had struggled in the postseason found its groove.