Recent 9th Grade Baseball News
Courtesy of the Times-Georgian
With the game tied 4-4 in the bottom of the seventh inning, Carrollton left fielder Luke Turner approached the batters’ box. Two-straight walks to start the inning had placed Andrew Albertus and Maddox Monsour on base.
Turner took strike one looking, but an opportunity like that did not pass him by again, as he found the barrel of the bat on the next pitch, sending a fly ball over the left-field fence to give the Carrollton Trojans a 7-4 win over Valdosta in the first game of a first-round playoff series on Friday.
The Trojans went on to win the second game of the double header 7-6, sealing their trip to the second round.
After recently returning to play from a mid-season injury, Cade Cosper got the start for Carrollton in game one, lasting four and two-thirds innings with two runs allowed (one earned) on one hit and four strikeouts.
John Cobb picked up the win in relief, going the remaining two and one-thirds innings and allowing two runs (none earned) on two hits with three strikeouts.
Albertus had a clean night at the plate, leading the way with three hits on three at-bats and scoring three runs. Turner and Carson Sewell also had multi-hit nights with two apiece. Counting his homer, Turner ended the night with four runs batted in.
In game one, Carrollton steadily constructed an early lead, first as Albertus scored on an error in the first inning and Seth Childers led off the second inning with a solo homer.
Valdosta cut into the lead with one run in the third, but RBI singles by Turner and Sewell in the bottom of that frame made it 4-1 Trojans.
It wasn’t until the fifth that the visiting Wildcats knotted things up, scoring three runs to make it 4-4. The tying runs scored on balls put into play by Isaiah Haygood and Michael Kirk after two walks put runners in scoring position.
However, Cobb entered the game to clean up from the hill and tossed a strikeout to end the inning. After that point, the game went scoreless until Turner’s home run broke the silence and gave Carrollton the win.
The Trojans (16-12) are a two seed and will now take things on the road to one-seed Hillgrove (22-10) with a double header starting at 4 p.m. this Friday. If needed, game three of the series will be played on Saturday at noon.
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.
Wounded Warrior Night for Trojan Baseball
PICTURED: The varsity Trojan baseball team celebrated Wounded Warrior Night wearing camo uniforms. The Trojans defeated the Dutchtown Bulldogs 15-7 in their home opener Monday night to improve their record to 2-0 on the young season.
PICTURED: Master Sergeant Marvin A. Cox threw out the first pitch in the game. Sergeant Cox served in the Air Force for over 20 years, first as an Information Systems Manager and then a First Sergeant. His many assignments ranged from serving at the Air Force Fighter Weapons School, Defense Intelligence Agency, and the Secretary of the Air Force office. He served during Desert Shield and Desert Storm. Sergeant Cox worked at Carrollton High School as the Air Force JROTC Aerospace Science instructor for 14 years and now serves as the Event Coordinator for Carrollton City Schools for the last two and half years.
PICTURED: Senior Trojan band member Walker McCullough plays TAPS to start Wounded Warrior Night.
COACHING STAFF
Ty Fowlkes
9th Grade Head Coach
