Baseball: Warriors pound Flowery Branch, force four-way tie in 7-AAA (3/20)

FLOWERY BRANCH - White County took advantage of five Flowery Branch errors en route to an 11-5 win over the Falcons Thursday in Region 7-AAA action.

The win for the Warriors (5-3, 3-1 in region) moved them into a four-way tie with Flowery Branch (7-1, 3-1), North Hall (6-2, 3-1) and Gainesville (5-4, 3-1) atop the region standings.

The Warriors jumped on Flowery Branch starter Matt Pilgrim and the Falcons defense taking a 3-0 lead after the first inning and pushing it to 8-0 after a five-run third.

The Falcons cut the lead to 8-4 with three runs in the fourth and another in the fifth but White County extended its lead to 11-4 with three more in the sixth.

Pilgrim only allowed two earned runs in 2 1/3 innings of work. Mason Roberts and Preston Bostic pitched well in relief for the Falcons allowing just three runs in 4 2/3 innings.

David Sosebee earned the win for White County allowing four runs in five innings. Brantley Gee allowed one run in two innings in relief for the Warriors.

Travis Rutkiewicz was the offensive spark for the Warriors with four hits and five RBI.

Patrick Henry led Flowery Branch with three hits. Cody Ackerman had two hits and Greg Palmer had a home run for the Falcons.