Cougars Advance To Semi-Finals

The Piedmont Academy baseball team ventured a long way from home last Friday but the return trip was a good one.

The Diamond Cougars swept Citizens Christian in a quarterfinal round best-of-three series and are now set for the semifinals in the GISA Class AA playoffs. Piedmont earned 12-0 and 8-0 victories against Citizens Christian and will now face Flint River Academy.

In game one of the quarterfinal series in Douglas, Piedmont led 1-0 after the second inning before scoring three runs in both the third and fourth. The Cougars then pushed five runs across in the top of the sixth inning to secure the win.

Piedmont led 3-0 after three innings in the second game Friday and then scored one more in the fourth, three more in the fifth and one final run in the sixth inning.

Sam Wright earned the victory in game one for coach Wes Tanner’s team while Mack Brady was dominant on the mound in the series clincher.

“It was a series where we went in and took care of business,” Tanner said. “We benefited from having good pitching. Our pitchers are doing such a good job of being in command of their pitches. It also helps when you are in the lead.”

With the team scoring 20 runs in the series, the offense has been productive as well.

“As we settle in and see a pitcher a time or two we pride ourselves on putting together tough at-bats,” Tanner said.

Up next is a rematch with the Flint River Academy Wildcats. The two teams met during the state championship series in 2016 with the Cougars winning two competitive contests.

Piedmont also has two regular season victories against the Wildcats this spring including a 15-3 win and an 8-1 decision.

The recent success against Flint River is something that actually worries the Cougars’ coach.

“It concerns me greatly,” Tanner said. “We have to be completely focused and ready to play. With our injuries we are far from 100 percent. Flint River is a region champion and they will do the fundamental things right. They are going to compete and scrap the entire series.”

With Piedmont once again on the road, Tanner expects it to be a tough series against another region champion.

The series opener will be today, May 18 at 2 p.m. followed by a game on Friday at 2 p.m. A third game, if necessary, would be Monday, tentatively set for 4:30 p.m. All games will be in Woodbury.

The winner of the Piedmont-Flint River series will face the survivor of the Windsor-Terrell semifinal matchup for the state championship May 26-27.