ROME, Ga. — After scoring just three total runs in their first three state finals games going back to 2024, the top blew off the Cherokee Bluff offense when they needed it most on Tuesday in Game 2 of their Class 3A championship series with Troup.
The Bears scored eight runs in a wild third inning, and then seven in an even wilder fourth for a stunning 15-0 win in four innings in Game 2 to force a deciding Game 3 on Wednesday.
Troup won Game 1, 5-1, giving the Bears a rough 0-3 record in their two back-to-back state championship series to that point.
“It's just frustrating playing here because we’re a home run hitting team, and playing in a big park like this, you've got to kind of change what you're doing,” Bluff coach Jeremy Kemp said. “It took us a while to adjust, and I think we did a good job of that in the second game. We got a couple of breaks on some of their miscues, and that kind of got us going.”
Bubba Coleman, who had two hits and scored two runs in the second game, said they tried to block out their offensive frustrations with elimination at stake.
“We still stayed up and kind of just stayed focused,” he said. “Obviously, putting up 15 gives us some confidence. Now we just got to carry that into tomorrow.”
First pitch for Game 3 is set for noon at AdventHealth Stadium.
Game 1: Troup 5, Cherokee Bluff 1
Jake Perry started the opener for Troup while Gabe Gowder took the hill for Game 1 for Bluff.
Both teams had some early chances. The Tigers got a two-out double from Carson Walker but he was left there when Fisher Baltzell grounded back to the pitcher to end the inning in the first.
Bluff got singles from Bryce Fontenot and Beau Burns. But they were left on base when Jordan Wilkerson grounded out and Cody Bridger struck out to end the second.
Troup broke through in the second as the bottom of the Tigers’ order proved tough. Brady Willis singled, and pinch-runner Treylon Dean moved to third on a pair of wild pitches with no outs. After Gowder struck out Chase Mosley, Perry ripped a single past a diving Coleman at third, knocking in Dean for a 1-0 lead. No. 9 hitter Torreion Delaney sliced a RBI double past Fontenot at first for a 2-0 lead.
Perry locked in after Burns’ single in the second, retiring eight straight through the fourth. Meanwhile, the Tigers' offense blew it open in the bottom of the fourth.
Ethan Goff, Delaney, and Garrison Edwards all stroked RBI hits with two out to push the lead to 5-0. The bottom three of the Troup lineup did the majority of the damage, going 4-for-5 with 4 RBI, and the Tigers' offense as a whole was 5-for-9 with RISP with 5 RBI through the first four innings.
After several hard-hit balls right at Troup fielders, the Bears finally got a break in the fifth. A seeing-eye single to center by Wilkerson, followed by a wild pitch to move him to second, set up Tucker Holton’s two-out, bloop single to center to cut the lead to 5-1.
Holton then moved to third on a wild pitch and an error. But he was left stranded when Coleman struck out to end the inning. In the sixth, Bluff got two more runners on with less than two out, but KT Thompson and Burns grounded out with a chance to drive in runs.
Gowder went the distance, going six innings, walking just one, and striking out five. He retired the final seven batters he faced. But it wasn’t enough as Perry shut down a Bears offense that came in averaging 8.25 runs/game, and 7.5 runs/game in the playoffs.
Perry closed out the complete game for the Tigers, working around a two-out double by Coleman. The junior right-hander scattered five hits and one walk and striking out five.
The Bears' offense could not string multiple hits together. They stranded six -- all in scoring position -- and went just 1-for-8 for 1 RBI with RISP for the game.
Game 2: Cherokee Bluff 15, Troup 0 (4 inn)
Tucker Holton worked in and out of trouble in the early going. Holton walked the opening batter of the game, and the Tigers had runners at second and third with one out. But Holton was able to get the next two batters.
In the second, a single and an error, but Mosley at second with no outs. But Holton got Perry, Goff, and Delaney to get out of the inning as the Tigers stranded three runners in scoring position in the first two innings.
The Bears looked to have a promising first inning as Coleman singled to start things. But two questionable calls at second snuffed out the inning.
Coleman appeared to beat a throw at second, which would have had runners at first and second, with no outs. But he was called out, and the call stood after a lengthy argument from Bluff coach Jeremy Kemp. Landon Kemp was then called out at second, trying to steal on another bang-bang play to end the inning.
“I think the guys saw how mad I was about some things going on, and I just think they fought hard for me and for each other,” Kemp said.
The Bluff offense exploded in the third against Troup starter Chase Mosley and two relievers. The Bears sent 14 batters to the plate, scoring eight runs.
Cody Brodger tripled to lead off, and Holton followed with an RBI single to left to give the Bears their first lead of the series. Coleman was intentionally walked, and Mosley walked Landon Kemp to load the bases with no outs. Ethan England ripped a two-run single to left, and then he and Kemp scored on a double-steal and an error by the Troup catcher to push the lead to 5-0.
Bryce Fontenot singled, KT Thompson was hit by a pitch, and Fontenot scored on a wild pitch. Thompson would score on a Beau Burns single, and Burns scored on a RBI hit by Bridger to make it 8-0.
Bluff ended in the fourth with seven runs. England knocked in Coleman on a ground out and then Fontenot scored on a 4-base error by the Troup center fielder. Thompson was then hit by a pitch, stole second, and then scored on stolen base of third and a wild pitch on the same play.
But the clincher came on the wildest play of the night. With the bases loaded, Holton grounded to third in what should have ended the inning. But the Troup third baseman overthrew first, allowing three runs to score. Holton was waved around third, and the throw home was offline, allowing him to come all the way around to score the final run on another 4-base error to invoke the Mercy Rule.
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