Spalding Outslugs, Eliminates Canes

GRIFFIN— couldn’t have asked for a better start Wednesday night in the decisive third game of the Canes’ AAA state quarterfinal series against top-ranked Spalding.

Shortstop Connor Justus led off the game with a solo home run for Cartersville. The visiting Canes, ranked third in the state, scored five runs with only one out in the top of the first inning and knocked Jaguar starting pitcher Austin Smith out of the game.

But relief pitcher Austin Hurt put out the first-inning fire for Spalding. The Jaguars then roared back with eight runs in the bottom of the first to take a lead they never relinquished on the way to a 16-9 win and a spot in the Georgia High School Association semifinals against Woodward Academy. Columbus will play Thomson, which knocked out , in the other AAA semifinal series.

The turn in momentum in the final game paralleled the course of the three-game series, in which Cartersville .

Cartersville, which won Region 7-AAA, finished the season 26-6.

Hurt was a hero for Spalding (29-3) on the mound and at the plate. He threw the final 6 2/3 innings for the win despite giving up four runs of his own along the way. He also led off the bottom of the first inning with a double to get the Jaguars’ comeback started, then hit a home run when he came back up in the first inning to give Spalding an 8-5 lead, according to the Griffin Daily News.

The Purple Hurricanes did not help their cause by committing two errors in the inning.

The Canes tried to rally in the final inning. Catcher Taylor Wilson hit a two-run homer in the seventh, but Harris Battle flew out to right for the final out, the Griffin Daily News reported.

Cartersville had 11 hits in the game, including three from DH Michael Willard, who also knocked in three runs, the Daily News said.