Diamond Cougars Are Region Champs

Piedmont Academy’s varsity baseball program earned another region title as the Diamond Cougars clinched the 2016 GISA 4-AA championship with a 6-1 home victory Monday against Brentwood.

Team members include (front row, left to right) Brett Bush, Clayton Carter, Tyler Mills, Caleb Faircloth, Hunter Whiting, Nate Miller, Noah Quick, Alan Powell, (back row) Assistant Coach Wes Tanner, Head Coach Daniel Funt, Zach Wilson, Dalton Whitley, Mack Brady, Chase Porter, Michael Edwards, Brock Carter, Jay Sheets, Wyatt Galloway, Asst. Coach: Cameron Vaughn, and Assistant Coach Colt Spivey.

Pitching standout Brock Carter earned another victory this spring as he went all seven innings with 15 strikeouts. Carter scattered eight hits while allowing just one earned run.

Noah Quick (2-for-4, one run, one RBI) and Michael Edwards (2-for-4, four RBI, one run) helped pace the offense.

“I am proud of our players,” said coach Daniel Funt. “We found a way to win. We were able to score four runs in the bottom of the fourth inning with two outs. We also played good defense and Brock pitched a heck of a game.”

The region championship means the Cougars will be a No. 1 seed in the upcoming state tournament. Postseason action is tentatively set to begin May 6-7 against the No. 4 seed from Region 2-AA. All playoff series will be a best-of-three format. Piedmont is the two-time defending AA state champion.

Brentwood took a 1-0 lead in the top of the third inning Monday before the Cougars answered with two in the bottom half of the inning. Piedmont then pushed across four runs in the fourth inning to gain some breathing room.

Alan Powell added a 1-for-3 day at the plate and scored two runs while Tyler Mills was 1-for-2 with two runs. Carter also had an RBI.

With the region title already secure, the Cougars closed out the 4-AA schedule Tuesday with a dominating 18-1 victory against Briarwood on the road.

Wyatt Galloway earned the win working four innings and striking out two.

Quick was 4-for-5 with three runs and RBI while Edwards was 2-for-4 with two triples, three runs and three RBI. Mack Brady added a 1-for-2 day with four runs and an RBI and Carter was 2-for-3 with two runs and three RBI.

Quick, Brady, Mills and Carter each had doubles.

Zach Wilson finished Tuesday’s game 1-for-2 with two RBI while Jay Sheets was 3-for-4 with four RBI and a run.

Prior to this week’s region games, the Cougars traveled to Deerfield-Windsor falling 16-6 to the AAA opponent.