By KEVIN ECKLEBERRY

Daily News

Through five innings, Troup and Central-Carroll were locked in a tense, scoreless region showdown.

A difficult fifth inning proved to be Troup’s undoing, though.

Central-Carroll pushed five runs across in the sixth inning, and it added three more runs in the top of the seventh on the way to an 8-0 victory on Thursday at Troup.

Troup (7-13) finished its Region 5-AAAA schedule with a 3-9 record, and it will be the number six seed for the region tournament.

Troup will play the region’s number three seed in a best-of-three series with a berth in the state playoffs on the line.

Central-Carroll (13-9 overall) improved to 10-1 in the region, and it has sewn up the number one seed for the region tournament.

In Thursday’s game, Troup’s Maggie McDonald was matching Central-Carroll’s Carley Fuller pitch for pitch through five innings.

Central-Carroll was finally able to break through in the sixth inning, and Fuller ended up throwing a five-hit shutout.

McDonald also threw a complete game and was the tough-luck loser.

McDonald, Hadleigh Livingston, Olivia McInvale, Avery Pearson and Caroline McInvale each had hits for Troup.

Despite the way the game ended, Troup head coach Kayla Yeargin was encouraged with what she saw.

“I thought it was one of the best games we’ve played in a while,” Yeargin said.

Troup has three games next week before beginning play in the region tournament.

“Hopefully we can win all three and go (into the region tournament) with momentum,” Yeargin said.