Gilmer High baseball solidified its postseason position with a sweep of the Ridgeland Panthers.
It took the Panthers until game three to cross home plate. GHS doubled Ridgeland’s hits in game one and only needed five innings for a 13-0 win.
Games two and three of the series were played Friday in Ellijay. Game two went the distance as RHS was limited to two hits and the Bobcats won, 6-0.
The Panthers jumped to a four-run lead in the finale. Gilmer’s bats came alive in the third and sparked a nine-run barrage over three innings. RHS never scored after the opening inning and the Bobcats won, 9-4.
Because GHS finished outside of the top four of the region standings, all three wins were needed to secure one of Class 3A’s at-large state playoff bids. The Cats’ postseason berth is their second in a row.
“I told our guys I’m not sure if a Gilmer team has ever made it to the playoffs in back-to-back years,” said head coach Jeff Thurman. “Obviously, the playoff system has changed over the years, but I don’t think we’ve ever gone back to back. That’s huge for us and our baseball program. It’s not easy. Up here where we’re at, we’re always stuck in a pretty good region.
“We want our players, each and every year, to feel like reaching the playoffs is the expectation and not a surprise when we do it. That’s a goal we have every single year, and to fulfill that goal in back-to-back years in two tough regions is certainly something we can hang our hat on.”
Gilmer’s three wins over RHS marked its third series victory of the season. The Cats also took two of three games from state playoff bound Calhoun and Adairsville.
“Ridgeland has a young team this year, but they’re a scrappy bunch,” said Thurman. “They were pretty successful in a lot of their nonregion games, but once they got into region play, they struggled. We knew they were limited with pitching after their starters and did a good job of keeping games close.
“We played a pretty good week of baseball even though we didn’t play very well at the beginning of game three. We dug ourselves a hole and were able to chip away at their lead.”
Game one was a model of domination for the Bobcats. GHS outhit the Panthers 10 to five, and the Cats scored runs in every at-bat. Ridgeland spent six pitchers on the day who combined to issue 13 walks.
Seniors Noah Gutillo and Hayden Berry proved to be the toughest outs for RHS. Gutillo went three for three, and Berry collected two doubles. Peyton Chancey notched three RBIs on the day, while both Landon McClure and Blake Grizzle drove in two runs apiece.
GHS stuck for four runs in the first, three in the second and four more in the third. Up 11-0, the Cats tacked on a run in the fourth and fifth innings.
When the Panthers were unable to cut the deficit to fewer that 10 runs, the game was called.
Mel Mosley, Eli Cooper, Cooper Cochran, McClure and Chancey all had one hit apiece. Cooper, Gutillo, Berry, Cochran, Zander Shute and Rob Mosley all drove in a run.
Berry was the winning pitcher and tossed a shutout. He struck out six, walked three and gave up three hits.
C.J. Hatchett pitched six scoreless innings in game two and struck out seven. He allowed two hits and walked a pair. Cochran entered the game in the seventh and shut down the Panthers.
Chancey’s leadoff hit was what GHS needed in the second inning. He stole second, motored to third on a ground out and scored on a passed ball.
In the third, Gutillo’s one-out base hit to center was followed by Grizzle’s seeing-eye single just past the pitcher. Chancey’s single to left added a second run, and Gilmer’s lead stood at 3-0 after Cochran singled to left.
Grizzle smashed a double into the right center field gap to get the fifth rolling. Berry walked and Cochran’s bunt spotted GHS a 4-0 lead. Peyton Ocobock’s sacrifice moved the runners up a base, and Hatchett’s bases loaded walk brought anther run home.
The Cats’ final run came in the sixth. Grizzle flew out to left to score Cooper, who doubled and stole third.
Ridgeland’s best offensive inning came in the first of game three. They recorded a double and two singles to go with two sacrifice bunts. GHS also offered a balk and a walk. One of the Panthers’ four runs was unearned.
McClure and Hatchett drew walks in the third and moved up 90 feet on a balk. Mel Mosley grounded out for the Cats’ first run. Cooper and Gutillo both walked as well to load the bases. Chancey’s walk to cut the Panthers’ lead to 4-2.
GHS drew five more walks in the fourth, which included three to reload the bases. A fielding error plated the third run, and Gutillo’s ensuing walk tied the score, 4-4. Chancey’s two-out double cleared the bases.
Gilmer pushed its final two runs across home plate in the fifth. McClure’s single was followed by a Hatchett walk. Mel Mosley’s sacrifice bunt moved them both into scoring position, and GHS led 9-4 with Gutillo’s two-run triple.
McClure got the win and pitched 5 1/3 innings, struck out five and walked four. He allowed three earned runs off seven hits. Cochran tossed 1 2/3 innings of relief work and struck out one.
The Bobcats were 9-1 over their final 10 games of the season. They posted a 15-14 overall record and were 8-10 versus region opponents.
“The past three weeks have been some really good baseball for us,” Thurman said. “Three weeks ago we knew it was an outside shot to get in, and we were going to have to almost be perfect. We almost were in terms of wins and losses, and that’s what got us in the playoffs.”
GHS enters the playoffs as the No. 24 seeded team out of 32 and will meet No. 9 LaGrange (19-11) in the first round. The best of three series starts Friday at LaGrange with a doubleheader beginning at 4:30 p.m.