The advantages of having a veteran-stocked high school baseball team were evident Thursday night at Lakeview-Fort Oglethorpe.
Ringgold won a key Region 6-AAA game against the host Warriors 15-8 despite falling behind early and not playing its best game. In years past, coach Brent Tucker might have shown some frustration with the Tigers, who had three errors and a combined nine walks and hit batters, but this time he let his experienced, talented group figure it out.
“There’s a good bit of trust here, but we were probably a bit too loose tonight,” Tucker said. “They’ve been through the fires and they know what to do. Offensively it was a good night for us. These guys have played a lot of baseball and they understand the game, though they still have some things to learn.”
Meanwhile, frustration was very evident in the LFO dugout after the Warriors, who have lost four straight region games after a 5-2 start, committed seven errors and walked 12 batters. After spotting the Tigers (19-4, 11-0) three runs in the top of the first inning, the Warriors (12-8, 5-6) scored four times in the bottom half, with Matthew Trusley’s bases-loaded triple the big hit.
Ringgold, though, scored three more times in the second on just two hits, including a double by Daulton Schley. Three Tigers walked in the inning, which was also extended by a pair of errors. Still, Ringgold’s lead was just 6-5 entering the fourth before the Tigers batted around for the third time in the game.