Diamond Cougars Fall in Semifinals

The state semifinal series between Piedmont Academy and Terrell Academy featured two evenly matched teams.

In the end, however, it was the visiting Eagles who held on for a 3-2 win in game three to advance to the GISA Class AA championship later this week. The loss prevents the Cougars from competing for a sixth state title in as many seasons.

“You have to give the Terrell coaches and players credit,” said Piedmont coach Colt Spivey. “They are a good team and made the plays they had to make. It was a great series. Both teams bounced back from defeats and the third game could have gone either way. We were four or five pitches from advancing.”

In Monday’s deciding game Terrell took a 3-2 lead into the bottom of the seventh inning. Sam Wright reached after being hit by a pitch. Rob Allgood then singled to put runners on first and second with one out.

Tate Marks almost won the series for Piedmont after he connected on a long fly ball to center field but the baseball did not quite make it over the fence. Wright and Allgood tagged up on the play putting the winning runs in scoring position with two outs.

Terrell Academy pitcher Garrett Sloan then intentionally walked Chase Porter to load the bases to allow a force out to any base as well as not allow Porter a chance to win the game. Sloan was then able to get out of the inning with a grounder back to the mound which sealed the win.

The celebration was then on for the Eagles and their coaches and fans.

Cameron Mobley was the starting pitcher in Monday’s game three which had been delayed because of weather on Saturday. Mobley worked five strong innings and recorded seven strikeouts. Marks and Wright both pitched an inning.

Terrell took a 1-0 lead in the top of the third but Allgood delivered a monster homer in the bottom half of the inning to even the score.

The Eagles regained the lead in the top of the fifth inning. Once again the Cougars answered in the bottom half of the inning when Marks reached on a pop up to shallow center field. Terrell’s centerfielder and shortstop collided on the play allowing a run to score.

The game’s winning run came in the top of the sixth on an error. Piedmont had five defensive miscues in the contest.

Wright, who recently signed with Gordon College, struck out the side in the top of the seventh inning to keep the lead at one run.

The semifinal series began on Friday with Terrell earning a 2-1 win. Wright pitched well for Piedmont with six strikeouts. Drake Coody, Allgood and Marks led the offense.

The Cougars scored one run in the first inning while Terrell tied the score in the fourth. The Eagles had a solo homerun in the top of the seventh which proved to be the difference.

The teams were scheduled to finish the series Saturday but only completed one game. Piedmont took a 12-6 win to keep the series alive.

Caleb Coffey had three hits as did Zach Spivey and Allgood. Marks pitched four innings before Porter closed the game out. Spivey also drove in four runs while Allgood had three.

The Cougars jumped out to a big lead although Terrell pushed four runs across in the sixth to make the final score closer.

Terrell Academy, which lost in the state finals to Piedmont two years ago, will now try to win the championship for 2019 when the Eagles face Edmund Burke. In the other semifinals series Edmund Burke swept St. Andrews 7-2 and 10-4.

“It was still a great season for us,” Spivey said. “We wanted to go further across. We feel that these two teams were the best. In the playoffs the two best teams often meet before the championship.