HIAWASSEE, Ga. — Towns County blasted Mt. Zion-Carroll on Friday to sweep the best-of-three Class A Division 2 first-round playoff series at home.
The Indians rocked the Eagles (11-14, Region 7-A D2 No. 3 seed) in Game 1, 13-3, and in Game 2, 12-1.
In Game 1, the Indians exploded for five runs in the first inning and scattered the next eight over the second, third, fourth and fifth innings to take the first game.
Towns County (20-10, Region 8-A D2 No. 2 seed) hammered eight hits in the win.
Zane Floyd was 2-for-3 with two RBIs to lead the Indians at the plate. Kade McConnell also was 2-for-3 and had one RBI. Layne Rouse finished the day with a 2-for-2 performance and drove in two runs.
McConnell earned the win on the mound, allowing two hits, no earned runs and six strikeouts.
After falling behind 1-0 in the first inning, the Indians tied it up in the third in Game 2. It was the start of rout.
Towns County scored 11 runs scattered across the final three innings to win and complete the sweep.
WALTON 4, 8
BUFORD 2, 3
Walton rolled into Gerald McQuaig Field on Friday and took the best-of-three Class 7A second-round playoff series away from the top-seeded Wolves.
In Game 1, the Raiders took the lead in the third inning and never looked back in the 4-2 win.
Buford closed the game in the sixth inning but gave up a run in the top of the seventh.
Ayden Lockett and Brandon Taliaferro drove in the Wolves' two runs.
Davis Wright, Levi Clark and Kyle Chatham had two hits to lead the Raiders. Clark was the RBI leader with three.
In Game 2, Walton jumped out to a 3-0 lead after the first inning and led 5-2 at the end of the third inning.
Buford added a run two runs in the third and one in the fourth.
The Raiders added three more insurance runs in the sixth inning and held on to sweep the Wolves.
COMMERCE 8, 9
PEPPERELL 2, 5
Commerce proved it was a contender in the Class A Division 1 playoffs on the road Friday.
Commerce held off Pepperell to get the Game 2 win and complete the sweep into the second round of the playoffs.
In Game 2, the Tigers led 6-1 after the fourth, but Pepperell scored four runs in the fifth to inch within one run, 6-5.
However, Commerce scored three runs in the bottom of the sixth to take control, 9-5.
C Smith, C Thomason, Hampton Hutto and B Neisler had two hits on the day. Smith drove in two runs on the day.
Cayden Lord went the distance, earning the win, while giving up four hits and no earned runs. He struck out six.
In Game 1, Commerce erased all doubt in the five-run sixth inning.
The big inning propelled the third-seeded Tigers to a 8-2 win over top-seeded Pepperell (22-8, Region 7-A Division 1 No. 1 seed) in Game 1 of the best-of-three Class A Division 1 first-round series on the road.
Commerce (12-19, Region 8-A Division 1 No. 3 seed) led 3-1 heading into the sixth inning, and started the inning with back-to-back outs. Then responded with a single, error, single, error, single, walk, single, scoring five runs for the 8-1 lead.
Hampton Hutto drove in three runs on a 2-for-4 day, while Cayden Lord was 2-for-3 with two RBIs.
Jaxon Foster picked up the win on the inning, allowing two runs on six hits and five strikeouts.
