UGA signee pitches Etowah to late-night win over North Paulding in 6A opener

Matthew Sharman, a big right-hander who has signed with Georgia, pitched in and out of danger all night and helped Etowah defeat North Paulding 2-1 in the opener of the best-of-three Class 6A championship series Tuesday.

Perhaps Sharman was thrown off by the late hour; the game didn’t start until 10:17 p.m. and wasn’t completed until 12:45 a.m., when a high pop-up settled into the glove of shortstop Nate Curcio.

The series will resume Wednesday with Game 2 starting at 3 p.m. A third game will follow, if needed.

Etowah (32-7) is trying to win its third state championship and first since 2024. North Paulding (32-7) is seeking its first baseball title.

Sharman pitched seven innings and allowed only one unearned run. He allowed five hits and two walks, striking out eight. He stranded runners at second and third in the second inning, left the bases loaded in the third and left a runner at second in the fourth. He retired 12 of the last 14 batters he faced.

In the sixth inning he was bailed out when center fielder Trevor Condon, a Tennessee signee and likely MLB draft choice, made a nice running catch in the gap in right to save an extra-base hit and perhaps preserve the lead.

The only truly poor decision Sharman made came in the seventh when he was called out for using an illegal bat.

Etowah players gather on the mound around coach Greg Robinson during Game 1 of the Class 6A GHSA baseball state championship series Tuesday, May 26, 2026, at Gwinnett Field in Lawrenceville. (Miguel Martinez/AJC)

North Paulding scored a run in the first inning when Wesley Moering led off with a double and scored on back-to-back passed balls.

Etowah took a 2-1 lead in the top of the second, scoring twice off starter Chance Williams. Carson Moore and Deion Cole scored on a two-out single by pinch hitter Dyson Sparks.

North Paulding’s Grant Travelstead entered in relief in the third and worked five scoreless innings. He allowed three hits and one walk and struck out seven.

Both teams arrived at Gwinnett Field around 1 p.m., as it isn’t easy to deal with Gwinnett traffic for visitors from Cobb County or Paulding County. But they could not start until the conclusion of the Class 5A series, which endured a three-hour rain delay and didn’t finish until 9:19 p.m. That meant the first pitch for the Class 6A series wasn’t delivered until 10:17 p.m.