LOCUST GROVE — A disastrous seventh inning undid a tremendous six-inning effort by Drew Atha as North Hall fell 7-3 to No. 1 Locust Grove Thursday in Game 3 of their best-of-three Class AAAA second round series.
The Trojans led 3-2 going into the seventh but three errors in the inning led to a five-run inning for the Wildcats.
Sophomore Nolan Crisp kept the Wildcats within striking distance allowing just two hits in five innings of relief to get the win.
Atha pitched 6 1/3 solid innings and took a 3-2 lead into the seventh. But his defense let him down as only one run of his seven allowed were earned.
North Hall struck first when Atha drove in in Taber Mongero with a sacrifice fly and Maddux Dill followed with another sacrifice fly bringing in Austin Adams for a 2-0 North Hall lead in the first.
Locust Grove scored twice in the third to tie the game but the Trojans took a 3-2 lead when Adams scored on passed ball in the bottom of the third inning.
Atha worked around a two-out single in the sixth to keep it a 3-2 lead for North Hall.
The Trojans had a chance to get out the inning tied with a double play but could not convert leading to two runs and then another error at the plate allowed two more runs to score.
Adams and Mongero both had two hits for North Hall. Fowler Brooks had one hit for the Trojans.
North Hall ended its season at 21-10 and finished second in Region 8-AAAA.
