Diamond Cougars Roll In First Round of State
It is one round down and three to go for the Piedmont Academy baseball.
The Diamond Cougars easily advanced in the first round of the GISA Class AA state playoffs last Friday sweeping visiting Notre Dame Academy of Duluth 15-0 and 16-0. The wins were team efforts as Piedmont coaches had the chance to use its full roster in the contests.
“We went out and took care of business,” said coach Wes Tanner. “We had some players step up as others were dealing with some injuries.”
In game one Sam Wright did not allow a hit in three innings and recorded eight of the nine outs himself by strikeout.
Offensively, Piedmont pounded out 13 hits in game one. Caleb Coffey was 3-for-3 in the win while Zach Spivey was 2-for-3 with two runs and an RBI. Chase Porter added a 2-for-3 game with two runs and two RBI.
Rob Allgood finished the contest 1-for-3 with two RBI. Caleb Faircloth (1-for-2, one run, three RBI), Dawson Coe (1-for-2, one run, two RBI), Wright (1-for-2), Tate Marks (1-for-3, three runs) and Cameron Mobley (1-for-2, two runs, one RBI) also contributed offensively.
Clayton Carter, Tanner Locklear, Noah Faubli, Allgood, Faircloth, Marks, Mobley and Porter all had stolen bases.
In game two last Friday, Porter pitched the first four innings with five strikeouts. Matthew Griffin worked the fourth inning and had one strike out.
Once again it was a big game offensively for the Cougars who scored seven runs in the first inning, one in the second, three in the third and five more in the fourth.
Wright was 2-for-4 at the plate with a homer two runs and two RBI and Porter was 2-for-3 with an RBI. Marks finished the game going 1-for-3 with a homer, two runs and four RBI. Clay Jones also had a homer and was 1-for-3 with two runs and three RBI.
Coe completed a strong day offensively by going 1-for-2 at the plate in game two with two runs and an RBI. Carter was 2-for-3 with three runs and two RBI. Mobley scored two runs and Coffey drove in a run.
Up next for the Cougars will be a second-round home series against Crisp Academy. Two games will be played Friday beginning at 1 p.m. A third game, if necessary, would be Saturday at noon, also at home.
“We will take the same approach,” Tanner said. “We just try to do what we do. We just focus on taking care of our business.”
The GISA playoffs have a week in between series which has both benefits and potential drawbacks, Tanner said.
“It does have its pluses in terms of resting pitchers and all of your players,” the coach said. “However, you do run the risk of weather playing a part. If a game is delayed then the series could be pushed through Sunday or into the next week. That could put you at a disadvantage for the next round. We are used to this setup though and it is what it is.”