GAINESVILLE, Ga. — The long-anticipated Class 3A state quarterfinal matchup between Cherokee Bluff and North Hall was more hype than substance when it was all over.
Using strong starting pitching from Gabe Gowder and Landon Kemp, and an offense that took advantage of nearly every scoring opportunity, the Bears swept past the Trojans 7-3 and 10-2 before a huge crowd at Cottrell Field on Wednesday.
“I’m proud of Landon and Gabe Gowder does what he does, and Logan (Robinson) did a great job of shutting it down,” Kemp said.
Cherokee Bluff (26-11) will face Peach County in the semifinals starting on Tuesday.
Gowder, the Game 1 starter, pitched a complete-game, five-hitter and struck out six. After North Hall (26-7) cut the Bears’ lead to 5-3 in the fourth inning, Gowder retired the final 10 Trojans batters to secure the Game 1 win.
Landon Kemp followed that up in Game 2 with 5 2/3 innings of no-hit pitching. He gave up an unearned run in the first inning, then settled down and retired 11 of the next 12 batters. Logan Robinson closed out the game, allowing just one hit and striking out three in 1 1/3 innings.
“Gabe has been really good for us all year, going the distance almost every Game 1 and that helps us a lot, ” Bears catcher Beau Bruns said. “Landon has stepped up as the Game 2 starter, and he’s throwing good for us. It really helps us if we are going to make a run at it.”
The offense was there as always for the Bears. Third baseman Bubba Coleman homered on the second pitch of Game 1 to get Cherokee Bluff started. It was an early boost to the series.
“It definitely got us going,” Kemp said. “ We were all pretty excited about being up here and being able to play them. It definitely got us going.”
The Bears scored two runs in the first inning and three in the second. Kemp and Ethan England had run-scoring hits.
After Campbell Payton singled in a run in the second inning, the Trojans cut the lead to 5-3 in the fourth on another Payton single and Kenny Foudy’s double.
After that, Gowder shut down the Trojans, and Cherokee Bluff added two insurance runs in the sixth inning on Bryce Fontenot’s double and Jordan Wilkerson’s ground out.
In Game 2, North Hall opened the scoring with a run in the first on an error and Ty Kemp’s sacrifice fly. The Bears took the lead with four runs in the second inning, scoring runs on a bases-loaded walk, a hit batter, an error, and Coleman’s RBI groundout.
They batted around in the third inning, scoring five times. Wilkerson drove in two runs with a single. Tucker Holton drove in a run with a sacrifice fly. The other two runs came from a bases-loaded walk and a double steal.
Bruns, who had three hits in Game 2, drove in the final run in the sixth. KT Thompson and Wilkerson had two hits each.
“Recently, we’ve been seeing beach balls at the plate,” Bruns said. “We’ve been hitting everybody we’ve seen pretty much. I think we are going to continue to hit good pitching and put up runs.”
The Bears supplemented their 10 hits with eight walks and two hit batters.
“The guys in the lineup really compete and find ways to create (runs),” Kemp said. “It’s fun to watch them.”
