Cougars Advance in Baseball Playoffs

Piedmont Academy cruised through its opening round state baseball series last week with a home sweep of Terrell Academy.

Coach Casey Moody’s team won Friday’s doubleheader 15-3 and 16-3 to advance to this week’s quarterfinals.

In Friday’s 15-0 win against Terrell, the Cougars scored eight runs in the second run before adding one in the third and six more in the fourth to secure the win,

At the plate, Alex Statham was 2-for-3 with two runs, a double and four RBI. Tyler Griswell homered and finished with three RBI.

Brayden Ross and Jack Adams also had multiple hits. Adams had a double, three runs and three RBI while Ross had a double, two runs and two RBI.

Jamus Wingate, Zach Simmons, Ethan Barman and Mason Tumlin also contributed offensively.

Nick Gervasio earned the win going all four innings and striking out six batters while allowing just one hit.

In the second game of the day, a 10-run top of the second gave Piedmont complete control. The Cougars added runs in the third and fourth before scoring four additional runs in the fourth inning.

Griswell had another homer and drove in three runs. Wingate had three hits while scoring two runs. Statham finished 2-for-5 with two doubles, a run and three RBI.

Chase Taylor was 3-for-5 with two RBI and three runs. Adams had a double, two runs and three RBI while Jayden Lintner had a double and drove in three runs.

Simmons worked the game’s first four innings with three strikeouts before Ross closed out the series with a scoreless inning with a strikeout.

“We played two great games against Terrell,” Coach Moody said. “Our pitchers threw 70% strikes and our batter put themselves in great positions at the plate. We had 27 hits in the two games and had no defensive errors. That was the goal going into the playoffs. We wanted to play clean baseball. I am so proud of our players.

Piedmont (14-11 overall) is now set for the Elite Eight round against Dominion Christian,. A doubleheader will be at home today, May 15 at 3 p.m. and 6 p.m. A third game, if necessary, would be Friday at 5 p.m.