By KEVIN ECKLEBERRY

Daily News

It came down to one run a year ago.

The Cartersville Purple Hurricanes and Troup Tigers finished tied for the top spot in Region 5-AAAA last season with matching 11-1 records, so it came down to a tie-breaker to determine which team would get the number one seed for the state playoffs.

The tie-breaker was based on the run differential in the two games between Troup and Cartersville.

Troup lost the first game 5-0 and won the second game 5-1, so it was Cartersville winning the tie-breaker by a single run.

That will no doubt be on the minds of the Tigers as they head to Cartersville today to play the Purple Hurricanes for the second time.

Troup beat Cartersville 4-1 on Tuesday to improve to 3-0 in the region and take over first place.

Cartersville fell to 4-1 in the region, and it came move back into first place with a win over Troup today.

If Cartersville is going to even the season series with Troup, it will have to find a way to put some runs on the board against senior pitcher Colby Williams, and that’s no easy task.

Williams, who has signed with Kennesaw State, has been one of the state’s top pitchers the past few seasons, and he’s coming of a four-inning, shutout performance against nationally-ranked St. Thomas Aquinas (Fla.) on Saturday.

Williams was on the mound last season when Troup won 5-1 at Cartersville.

Also today, the LaGrange Grangers will look for their fourth consecutive region win when they visit Sandy Creek.

After opening region play with two losses to Cartersville, LaGrange has won three in a row, including Wednesday’s 7-0 home win over Sandy Creek.

The Callaway Cavaliers, meanwhile, will finish their three-game series with Lamar County by hosting a doubleheader today.

Callaway lost to Lamar County 3-1 on Tuesday to fall to 4-3 in Region 5-AA.

While Bremen is running away with the region with a 9-1 record, Callaway and Lamar County are tied for second at 4-3.

On Saturday, Callaway will take a break from region play by hosting Westminster, with the doubleheader getting started at noon.

UPCOMING GAMES

TODAY

LaGrange at Sandy Creek, 5:55 p.m.

Troup at Cartersville, 5:55 p.m.

Lamar County at Callaway, 4:30 p.m.

Lafayette Christian at Grace Christian Academy, 5 p.m.

SATURDAY

Westminster at Callaway, noon