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It was a long afternoon in Sandy Springs for the Troup baseball team as they split the first two games of the state quarterfinal matchup with Holy Innocents’. The Tigers won game one before the Bears struck back in the second game to even up the series and force a winner-takes-all game 3.

 

GAME TWO: 

TROUP – 3

HOLY INNOCENTS’ – 12

 

In the complete inverse of game one, it was the Bears who started out hot offensively. Holy Innocents’ put two runs on the board in the top of the first to take an early lead.

The Bears completely blew the game open with eight runs in the top of the fourth inning, taking a commanding 10-0 lead.

Troup eventually got on the scoreboard in the bottom of the fourth inning. Davis Moncus hit a solo home run. An error allowed a second Troup runner in the inning to score. 

The Tigers never quit in the game and added a third run in the fifth inning to cut the deficit to seven.

The Bears struck back in the top of the sixth inning, scoring a pair of runs to extend their lead out to 12-3.

Carson Walker got the start on the mound in game two and did not have his usual success. While he only allowed four hits in his three innings of work, he also allowed seven walks which contributed to the Bears’ early offensive success. The Tigers deployed an entire platoon of pitchers with Tripp Cummings, Kaleb Woodson and Cason Spears all seeing time on the mound in relief of Walker.

Baltzell and Moncus led the charge in game two with two hits apiece while Chase Mosley had one hit. After an offensive explosion in game one, the Tigers could not get the bats rolling in the same way in game two.

 

GAME ONE:

TROUP – 7 

HOLY INNOCENTS’ – 4

 

The Tigers took no time getting on the board, scoring three runs in the first inning and led wire-to-wire. The Bears kept it close, but the Troup offense always had an answer. 

That answer in the early goings was freshman Courtney Wilson, who hit a monster three-run triple in the top of the first. 

The Bears chipped into the lead with a run in the second inning and another in the third inning to make it 3-2 Troup. That is where the game stayed until the Tigers added two more runs to their lead in the top of the fifth. Carson Walker drove in the first run of the inning with a single before Wilson continued his torrid start to the game by driving in another run with a single to make it 5-2. 

Wilson was 3-for-4 with four RBIs to lead the Troup offense.

The Bears got a run back in the bottom of the fifth to trim the Troup lead to 5-3. 

Fisher Baltzell uncorked a two-run blast in the top of the seventh to lift the large traveling contingent of Troup fans off their seats and extend the lead to four runs.

The Bears scored a run in the bottom of the seventh and had the bases loaded when Demetrius Hardnett got the final out to put Troup up 1-0 in the series. 

Davis Moncus got the start on the mound and was superb in his six innings of work, striking out six batters on nine hits and just one earned run.

Walker and Ethan Goff each had two hits while Baltzell and Garrison Edwards had one hit apiece. 

 

WHAT’S NEXT:

Troup will travel back to Holy Innocents’ for a game three on Tuesday that will start at 4:15 p.m.