ALBANY – With his team’s tournament hopes on the line, Troup National’s Ellis Matthews went to the mound and threw a gem.

Matthews threw a six-inning shutout to lead Troup National to a 5-0 victory over Peachtree Ridge in the Dixie Youth Baseball 11-12-year-old state tournament on Wednesday.

Troup National is now two wins away from a berth in the championship series.

Troup National will need to beat Lee County today and Thursday to capture the top spot in the eight-team pool.

The two pool winners will face off in the best-of-three championship series beginning Friday.

Lee County is unbeaten in the tournament, and it gave Troup American its only tournament loss on Monday.

Matthews was brilliant.

He gave up just two hits and a walk, and he struck out nine batters.

“Ellis pitched another great game for us,” Troup coach Charles Sweat said. “His curveball was really working, and after getting hit with a wicked line drive, his fastball actually picked up velocity making his curve all that much more effective.”

Troup National gave Matthews all the support he needed with three runs in the first inning, and it capped the scoring with two runs in the third.

At the plate, Jarred Helton had a three-run home run, and Cooper Doughman had a hit and two RBIs.

“It’s good to see Jarred getting his confidence back and driving the baseball,” Sweat said.

David Sweat, Seth Prather, John Crawford and Parker Kennedy also had hits for Troup.