Crisp County 12-6, Carrollton 0-9:
Carrollton (1962) and Crisp County (1961) have waited a combined 105 years since their last state titles and the two programs will have to wait until Monday to determine the 2014 Class AAAA state champion in the winner-take-all Game 3. Visiting Crisp County opened a 6-0 lead in the second inning of Game 1 with Taylor Walls’ 3-run homer. Walls also took the mound for the Cougars and did quick work as Crisp County completed the mercy–rule victory in under an hour. Devin Taylor sealed the Game 1 with a 2-RBI single in the fifth and finished 1-for-2 at the plate and also reached the base after getting hit by a pitch.
In Game 2, Crisp County pitcher Stewart Tyler opened the game with eight straight balls but settled in and the two teams went scoreless into the third inning. Carrollton finally saw its first runs of the championship series in the third inning of Game 2 when Jackson Hesterlee drove in two RBI with a triple down the right-field line. Brandon Pedigo pushed the lead to 3-0 with his infield single.
Crisp County would battle back the next inning and reclaim the lead at 5-3. Witt Campbell opened the fourth with a single and advanced to third with a Landon Whitman single and a Carrollton fielding error. Logan Carter laid down a sacrifice bunt to score Campbell and Carrollton intentionally walked Walls, who had blasted the 3-run homer earlier in Game 1. The Trojans unintentionally walked Chris McGinnis, who was next at bat, and load the bases before Bradley Hough cleared the bags with a 3-RBI double. Devin Taylor doubled to drive in Hough and Crisp County was three innings away from the sweep with its 5-3 lead.
Tyler was on the mound for Crisp County to start the fifth inning and forced a Andrew Turner pop-out and struck out Mitch McLendon for the second out after allowing a Sam Turner single to open the inning. Carrollton’s John Gaiter kept the inning alive and advanced Sam Turner to third with a single. Crisp County made a pitching change and replaced Tyler with Carter and Carrollton would put four two-out runs in the inning to erase the deficit and take a 7-5 lead. Will Hesterlee doubled to drive in two of the four runs and Garrett drove in Hesterlee before Roury Glanton scored the final run of the inning on an error.
Game 3 will be Monday at 3 pm at Carrollton
