Newnan Baseball Uses 6 Second Inning Runs to Beat Carrollton, 12-6

The Carrollton and Newnan High School baseball teams faced off yesterday for Military Appreciation Day in their only matchup of the season. Both teams came into the game with .500 winning percentages with Newnan at 6-6 and Carrollton, having only played 6 games, at 3-3.

Newnan Preview

Newnan started off their season with three consecutive victories. The first game was a 9-5 victory over Eagles Landing Christian School. The next victory came vs Spalding High, where the Cougars defeated the Jaguars by a score of 3-1. The next game was on the road vs McIntosh, and Newnan took this one 2-0. This gave them a perfect 3-0 record to start the season.

However, the next four games did not have the same result the first three did. Newnan lost four consecutive games to Whitewater, Northside Columbus, Florida Christian, and Pace Academy. In those four games, their average margin of defeat was just over 6 runs. Both of the out-of-state teams they faced, Florida Christian and Pace Academy, defeated them by 10 runs.

In the next two games, the Cougars got back on track and had two consecutive victories on the road. The first was over South Cobb by a score of 2-1, and that was followed by a 4-3 victory over Lagrange. This put their overall record at 5-4.

South Cobb then got their revenge on Newnan by beating them 6-5. After that, the guys traveled to Mountain View High School in Lawrenceville, Georgia and were beaten 6-1.

Those two losses led us into this week where Newnan has played a game on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. Tuesday, the bats exploded as Newnan defeated Campbell 13-1. That was followed by a 10-7 victory over North Gwinnett. This win gave Newnan the 6-6 record they had coming into their game yesterday at Carrollton.

Carrollton Preview

The Carrollton Trojans came into the game having not won or lost two consecutive games. In other words, they started off the season with a loss, and then a win. Then, they repeated this two times over, giving them their 3-3 record coming into yesterday’s game.

The first loss came at the hands of Hillgrove High School as the Hawks defeated the Trojans 10-7. Then, Carrollton bounced back the next week with a 10-1 victory over Villa Rica.

On March 2^nd, the guys traveled to Mill Creek High School and lost 3-2, but then they had a narrow 8-7 victory over Peachtree Ridge at the University of West Georgia.

Last Saturday, Brookwood came to Carrollton and defeated them 6-3. On Tuesday of this week, the Trojans traveled across state lines to take on Central High School in Phenix City, Alabama. This game ended with Carrollton on top 6-5. This led us into yesterday’s Carrollton vs Newnan game.

Carrollton vs Newnan

The game’s first pitch was at 5:30 yesterday and sophomore Rhett Daniel was on the mound for Carrollton. The game started off with a stare down of the two teams, something I had never seen before. They lined up for the National Anthem, and then Newnan did not want to move. As the song concluded and the umpires signaled for the game to start, the entire Newnan team stayed on the 1^st base line, staring over at the Carrollton players. A couple players walked off, but two or three Carrollton players did not like that happening on their home field. So, they stayed on the 3rd base line. Once the last of the CHS players went to the dugout, the Newnan team erupted in cheers, as if the game was already over. It was an interesting intimidation factor to say the least.

Newnan started the hit parade off early as they scored two runs on three hits in the first inning. The first batter, senior Brady Barnes, was thrown out on a groundball. Then, senior Blake Crossing singled to start off the hits for Newnan. Junior Bennett Rowan then came in and singled to center, advancing Crossing all the way to third. A passed ball on a wild pitch then scored the first run of the game, as Crossing easily stole home.

A fly out and then a walk ensued, bringing up the 6^th batter, sophomore Will Wilbanks. Wilbanks capitalized on his opportunity and singled to left, scoring Rowan from third. This put Newnan up 2-0 on Carrollton and led us into the bottom of the first.

Senior Chancellor Johnson was on the mound for Newnan and pitched a near perfect game. The first inning, Johnson got the first two batters to ground and line out, and then struck out senior Roury Glanton. This moved us into the top of the second.

In the second inning, Newnan began to pull away from Carrollton as they went through the entire batting order. By the end of this inning, six runs were scored and the Cougars had already faced 3 different pitchers. Rhett Daniel ended his day after only getting through 1.1 innings, and sophomore Andy Smith came in for relief and he only lasted 0.1 innings. After Smith sat down, senior Ryan Cotton came in and finally finished off the inning. Heading into the bottom of the second, Carrollton was down 8-0.

Chancellor Johnson was stellar yet again and got the 4, 5, and 6 hitters to sit down, striking out one. This gave him two K’s for the day.

Newnan took the plate again, but this time were held to only one hit and zero runs. The third inning was another quick one for Carrollton as neither the 7th, 8th, or 9th hitters got on base. This led us to the top of the fourth with Chancellor Johnson’s perfect game bid still intact.

Newnan extended their lead to 11 runs in this inning as they got two more hits. Ryan Cotton finished out the inning for Carrollton and that was the last time he would see the mound. Heading into the bottom of the fourth, Carrollton was 11 runs behind.

Chancellor Johnson’s perfect game bid ended this inning as Roury Glanton reach base on a walk. However, he was able to add another strikeout and not give up a hit or a run, leaving the score at 11-0.

In the top of the 5^th, Carrollton’s defense stepped up and was able to hold the visiting Cougars scoreless. Junior Tate Fricks came into pitch for the Trojans that inning and was able to put a halt on the Newnan rally. Carrollton was now facing defeat if they could not put up two runs. GHSA rules state that if a team is down 10 runs after the completion of 5 innings, the game is over.

Carrollton did put a fight, though. Junior Mike Wright ended the no hit bid for Chancellor Johnson as he singled to left with two outs. Senior Jack Garrett then followed up with a double, advancing Wright to third. A wild pitch by Johnson then allowed Wright to score, and moved Garrett over to third. Chancellor Johnson was one out away from a five inning no-hitter before Wright got that single.

Garrett eventually scored for CHS, meaning the game would go into a full seven innings. Carrollton ended up getting 5 runs on 5 hits in the 5^th, making the score 11-5 heading into the top of the 6^th.

The last two innings slowed down a bit as each team only put up one more run and the game ended with a final score of 12-6, in favor of Newnan. Chancellor Johnson got the win for the Cougars with 4.2 innings pitched, one walk, 5 K’s, 3 hits, and 3 earned runs. Newnan is now 7-6 overall. Rhett Daniel takes a loss for his start yesterday, and his Trojans move to 3-4 on the year.

Carrollton will travel to Ringgold, Georgia for their next game to take on the Heritage Generals. This game will take place tomorrow, March 12^th and the first pitch will be at 2:30 PM. Newnan’s next game will be today at 5:55. They are taking on Campbell on the road.