Cartersville traveled to North Hall’s Jody Davis Field on Saturday and swept the host Trojans 4-2 and 2-1 to win the Class AAA state championship.
Cartersville’s Tripp Jamieson singled in Evan Cole in the bottom of the seventh inning to break a 1-1 tie and give the Purple Hurricanes a walk-off win.
Game 2 was a pitchers’ duel, as North Hall’s Colton Duttweiler and Cartersville’s Garrett Rutledge each pitched into the seventh. The teams combined for four hits.
North Hall opened the scoring in the fourth when Griffin Olson doubled in Andrew Smith. But Cartersville drew even in the bottom of the fifth when Jamieson hit a sacrifice fly that drove home Hayes Linn.
In Game 1, the Purple Hurricanes took a 3-0 lead in the third inning after run-scoring doubles by Ty Flowers and Drew Benefield, then an RBI single by Connor Justus.
Drew Lawson singled in Jamieson in the fifth to give Cartersville a 4-1 lead.
North Hall stranded 12 runners, including two innings which ended with the bases loaded.
Linn, who will play quarterback at Air Force, earned the win after tossing five innings and giving up seven hits and two earned runs.
North Hall starter Preston Graham threw a complete game, but was saddled with the loss after allowing four earned runs and 10 hits while striking out seven.
Cartersville won its sixth state championship in baseball. The previous five were all won since 2001. North Hall, meanwhile, made its first state finals appearance in school history.
The first pitch of Game 1 was thrown out by the stadium’s namesake, a Gainesville native who played major league baseball from 1981-90, including 1988-90 with the Braves.
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