Coach Trent Bianco added another win to his first season as head coach at Carrollton High School, defeating 4A Whitewater 8-2 on Thursday night.

“Anytime you beat a team like Whitewater — that’s really well coached and is going to be really talented — you feel good about it,” Bianco said after the game.

The Trojans move to 4-2 on the season through the early stages of non-region play.

When asked about how he feels about his first season as head coach of the Trojans, Bianco said, “It’s been great. The kids have responded well — the work ethic has been great.”

But of course, Bianco is not new to Carrollton, despite previously serving as Heard County’s head baseball coach for nine years. He graduated from Carrollton in 2003 and served as an assistant coach for the Trojans before taking the job at Heard in 2014.

“Being from here, you kind of know what to expect, and that’s one of the great things about Carrollton,” he stated. “Our guys know if they put on a jersey that says Carrollton or Trojans, they expect to go out there and compete and win.”

Bianco was quick to highlight starting pitcher Cade Cosper after the win, who pitched a full game for the Trojans, throwing nine strikeouts and allowing two runs off four hits and three walks.

Cosper also led the team in RBIs in the win, as he hit a long double to the center-field wall to open up the scoring and put Carrollton ahead 3-0 in the bottom of the first.

Despite scoring eight runs, the Trojans collected just four true hits on the night, one each by Maddox Monsour, Andrew Albertus, Cosper and Seth Childers. Trojan batters also took a total of eleven walks, which contributed to the eight-run night.

Whitewater cut the Carrollton lead down to 3-2 in the second frame, but that was as close as they got for the rest of the game.

Carrollton’s biggest offensive inning was a four-run showing in the third, all four of which were scored on wild pitches or passed balls. Their final run of the game was a Lane Bell bases-loaded walk.

When asked about his expectations for the rest of the season, Coach Bianco chose to focus on the present.

“I’m such a day-by-day guy. If we get better every single day, I feel good about it. We obviously have goals to compete for a region championship and make deep playoff runs, but none of that can happen if we don’t worry about us and if we don’t get better each day.”

Carrollton is scheduled to take on both Oconee County and Calhoun in a tournament doubleheader at home on Saturday.

With Cosper pitching a full game on Thursday, Bianco says he plans to look to Malik Kemp and John Cobb, as well as a few different relievers on the pitching mound on Saturday.

First pitches for Oconee County and Calhoun are tentatively scheduled for 11 a.m. and 5 p.m., respectively.