GAINESVILLE — Make a mistake, any mistake, against the North Hall baseball team at your own peril.
Ask Region 1-3A champion Pierce County.
The Trojans took advantage of eight Bears errors, turning them into 10 unearned runs, en route to a dominating 6-2 and 7-1 sweep in the quarterfinals of the Class 3A state playoffs on Monday at Cottrell Field.
“We practice the little things all the time. It’s literally all we do,” North Hall junior pitcher/first baseman Jaret Bales said. “When a team makes a mistake, we just feel like we have to pounce because if we don’t, they’ll do it to us.”
North Hall (29-5) wasn’t exactly perfect committing three errors of its own. But some key defensive work and solid pitching in key moments by Bales and Eli Reece were more than enough to compensate as they gave up just one unearned run in the series.
Both Bales and Reece registered complete games in getting the wins. Bales started strong, yielding just two hits through the first five innings of Game 1 before surrendering a pair of late runs. It took Reece a couple of innings to get his bearings before closing out the game retiring 13 of the final 16 batters he faced in Game 2.
“Sometimes it takes me a little time to get going but once we got the lead I felt like I was able to use all my pitches and dominate the zone,” Reece said. “They have a good lineup and we knew that if we got behind (in the count) it would be a long night. We tried to work ahead all night and not let them get extended.”
It was a stellar performance against a Bears team (26-7) that came in averaging 7.6 runs a game in the playoffs. They had their chances but a double play and two pickoffs by the North Hall defense helped snuff out two potential rallies and helped set the tone.
Junior catcher Tate Brooks provided the offensive spark reaching base five times, scoring four runs, stealing two bases, to go with a pair of hits and an RBI. In both games he opened by reaching on errors and later scoring to give North Hall quick leads and quick momentum.
“My purpose was to get the team sparked up and make the hits contagious,” Brooks said. “I felt like I was able to do that. But getting two pitching performances like that is huge. The defense had the pitchers' back and then the offense was able to relax.”
North Hall next will travel to Ringgold in the semifinals, which are slated to begin on Saturday with a doubleheader. Much like Monday’s encounter, the two teams are no strangers. The Trojans beat Ringgold in a classic series in Ringgold in 2017 on the way to their first-ever state championship.
GAME 1: North Hall 6, Pierce County 2
Bales tossed a six-hitter and gave up just two runs. He fanned five while walking just two.
Bales dominated the game for five innings scattering two hits and allowing just three baserunners. Pierce County scored one run each in the sixth and seventh after the Trojans had built a 6-2 lead.
The North Hall offense got going quickly in the bottom of the first. Brooks ripped Hoke Skipper’s first pitch deep to left that was misplayed putting him at second. Jay Johnson followed with a bunt hit moving Brooks to third and Bales walked to load the bases. Bradford Puryear gave them a quick 1-0 lead with an RBI single to right. But Skipper got out of the inning without further damage by striking out Reece and Cooper Helton.
The Bears put a threat together in the second getting runners to second and third on an error, a single, and a wild pitch. But Bales fanned Collin Jarrell and got Brett Tuten to line out to center to get out of the mess.
North Hall blew it open in the fifth sending 10 batters to the plate. Bales helped his own cause bringing in Johnson, who reached on an error, on a sacrifice fly to center. Helton stroked a two-out RBI single to right, Luke Erickson followed with another two-out hit, driving in Puryear and Helton, and Brooks knocked in a run on an infield hit to make it 6-0.
The Bears scratched a run back in the sixth getting a pair of two-out singles from Bennett and Drew Starling. Bennett scored on a wild pitch after they loaded the bases. Davis Green singled in Brandon Pittman in the seventh but Bales finished off the complete game with a grounder to third.
The difference was in the big moments. North Hall was 6-of-18 with RISP and five RBI in the game. The Bears were just 1-of-5 with one RBI with RISP.
GAME 2: North Hall 7, Pierce County 1
North Hall again jumped out to a quick lead as Brooks again reached on an error and scored on a sacrifice fly from Bowen for a 1-0 lead. But they left a pair of runners on with a chance for a big inning.
Reece was dealing early striking out the side in the first. But the Bears got a single to right and a bunt single combined with an error to put runners at first and second with no outs to open the second inning. Reece got out of the mess with just one run scoring, picking off a runner at second, and giving up a sacrifice fly to J. Reid Phillips to tie the game at 1-1 at the end of the second.
North Hall batted around in the third to reclaim the lead for good. Brooks walked, Johnson beat out an infield single and Brooks took third on an error. Bowen walked to load the bases with no outs and Bales knocked in a run with an infield single. After a force out at home, Reece and Helton both walked to push the lead to 4-1.
The Bears threatened in the bottom of the third loading the bases with one out. But Reece struck out Benett and Starling to get out of the huge jam.
North Hall slowly pulled away scoring single runs in the fourth, fifth, and sixth.
Reece shook off a slow start to retire 13 of the final 16 batters from the third inning on. He scattered four hits, fanned seven, and walked three.
NOTES: Pierce County had allowed just 6 runs (1.5 rpg) in its first four games of the 2021 playoffs before being battered for 13 on Monday. ... The Bears also saw their 10-game win streak come to an end. ... The Bears were 9-2 on the road in 2021 but had not played a road game since April 23 until Monday. ... The series loss was their fifth straight road playoff series loss dating back to a series win over North Oconee in the 2012 Class 2A playoffs. ... North Hall is now 3-0 all-time in playoff series against the Bears, including the 2017 state championship series. ... The Trojans have now won five straight home series and 7 of their last 8 going back to 2016. The last North Hall home series loss was in 2018 to Lovett (2-1). ... The Trojans came in yielding just 3.0 rpg in the playoffs. That dropped to 2.57 rpg after Monday.
