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Saturday was a special day for the Troup baseball team, not just because they beat Calvary Christian 16-6, but also because they got to celebrate their lone senior — Tripp Cummings.

“I’ve been on essentially four different teams now and the first three were led by seniors, so it’s kind of hard to be the only one sometimes, but it’s fun,” Cummings said. “I get to be like a dad to them.”

Cummings got to celebrate his big day with a start on the mound. It was a dominant four innings as he allowed just three hits on five strikeouts with the one run allowed being unearned.

“It’s fun and a blessing to have everybody out here,” Cummings said of his family who filled the stands on Saturday. 

Cummings was backed up by a potent offense. It all started with a pair of runs in the bottom of the first.

Davis Moncus hit a single to drive in the first followed by a Carson Walker ground out to drive in the second run. 

The Tigers were just getting started as they scored five runs in the following inning to take a commanding 7-0 lead. 

Garrison Edwards was hit by a pitch and Fisher Baltzell was walked back-to-back with the bases loaded to drive in the first two runs and double Troup’s lead. Moncus proceeded to hit his second one-run single of the game. An error allowed the fourth run in the inning to score when Chase Mosley took a bases-loaded walk to drive in the final run of the inning.

Troup blew the game open with four runs in the third inning to take an 11-0 lead. A passed ball scored the first two runs of the inning and the Tigers kept going from there. Moncus hit his third one-run single of the game to drive home the third. The freshman was a dominant 3-for-3 with three RBIs and two runs scored. 

An error allowed the fourth run of the inning to reach home.

Calvary Christian got a run back in the top of the fourth, but the Tigers replied with a run in the bottom of the inning courtesy of a wild pitch to make it 12-1.

Calvary Christian’s offense sprung to life, scoring five runs in the fifth inning as Troup was forced to deploy three different pitchers in the inning. 

The Tigers were unfazed and scored four runs in the fifth to end the game by mercy rule. Courtney Wilson drove in the first with a single. A Carson Williams double drove home the next two runs before a passed ball eventually allowed Williams to score later in the inning to end the game.

Wilson had a big game on offense, going 2-for-4 with two runs scored, two stolen bases and an RBI. Demetrius Hardnett and Williams also had a hit apiece for Troup.

Troup has won four games in a row and eight of its last nine games to improve to 17-9 on the season. The Tigers have already clinched a playoff spot after missing out on a chance to play in the postseason last year. 

“We’ve really had to grind and work hard this season because missing the playoffs made us mad,” Cummings said. “We put pressure on ourselves to make the playoffs this season and we did that.”

The Tigers will play their region finale on Tuesday at home against LaGrange before traveling to Calvary Christian on Thursday for their regular season finale.