GREENLAND -- Hunter Cartwright's walk-up music should have been played after his at-bat, not before.
Cartwright, whose song is "Congratulations" by Post Malone, smashed a three-run double to complete Greenland's 9-6 come-from-behind win over Charleston in the 3A North Regional semifinals. The Pirates play Atkins at 2:30 p.m. in Monday's championship game.
3A-REGION 1
Greenland
Softball
Friday’s results
Game 1 Paris 4, Elkins 1
Game 2 Atkins 10, Cedarville 1
Game 3 Mansfield 8, Perryville 2
Game 4 Charleston 10, Two Rivers 2
Saturday’s results
Game 5 Atkins 5, Paris 1
Game 6 Charleston 4, Mansfield 2
Monday’s games
Consolation game, Paris vs. Mansfield, noon
Championship game, Atkins vs. Charleston, 2:30 p.m.
Baseball
Friday’s results
Game 1 Greenland 12, Paris 2
Game 2 Charleston 7, Lamar 5
Game 3 Atkins 2, Mansfield 1
Game 4 Jessieville 3, Elkins 2
Saturday’s results
Game 5 Greenland 9, Charleston 6
Game 6 Atkins 8, Jessieville 0
Monday’s games
Consolation game, Charleston vs. Jessieville, noon
Championship game, Greenland vs. Atkins, 2:30 p.m.
Greenland 9, Charleston 6
Charleston^600^000^0^—^6^9^1
Greenland^301^104^x^—^9^11^0
Charleston’s battery Haney, Rankin (6) and Benge. Greenland’s battery McAdoo, Overton (1), Hatch (6) and Alaniz. W - Hatch. L - Haney. Sv - none. HRs - none.
Greenland coach Will McGinnis told his players he "got chills" when Cartwright's line drive landed fair on the left-field chalk line. That was because his Pirates (23-8) rallied for nine unanswered runs after digging a 6-0 deficit in the first inning. They scored four with two outs in the sixth.
"That made me so proud to be their coach," McGinnis said. "It was nothing we did. It was all their heart. All their energy, attitude and effort. When you get down 6-0, a lot of teams shut it down. I just kept telling them to keep putting up zeros to keep them right where they're at and scratch, claw to add one or add two, and maybe things would break open with a big inning.
"After that first inning, they did exactly what we had on the game plan."
As his walk-up music blared out over the speakers, Cartwright admitted nervousness began to set in. After all, the score was tied at 6-6 with two outs and the bases loaded in a key postseason game. Still, the junior managed to turn on a inside fastball for a stand-up double.
"Just find the barrel and get a hit; that's all we needed," said Cartwright, who was 2-for-4 with four RBIs. "When I was going to first, I was watching because I wasn't for sure if it was going to be fair, but I knew it was close. I watched all the other three people on base score and that's was pretty big."
Pinch hitter Carter Gobel began the sixth-inning rally with a leadoff double and scored on a two-out single by Austin Anderson, who was 2-for-4 with two runs and two RBIs. A single by Michael McAdoo and walk by Will Overton loaded the bases to set the stage for Cartwright's game-winner.
"Gobel's double was big and he ended up scoring the tying run," McGinnis said. "He's a guy who's played quite a bit for us, but hadn't started the last few games. He came in and gave us a big spark off the bench and the kids fed off of it."
RBI singles by Anderson and Cartwright highlighted a three-run first inning. Greenland cut the deficit to 6-5 when Dusty Reynolds and McAdoo drove in runs in the third and fourth innings, respectively.
The rally was made possible because of Overton's solid relief appearance. The junior right-hander took over in the first and pitched 4 1/3 shutout innings before senior Blake Hatch took over at the start of the sixth inning. He struck out three, including the final two batters of the game, and didn't allow a hit over the final two innings to record the win.
For Charleston (13-9), a two-run double by Dalton Haney did the most damage during the first inning. Colton McDonald and Kaden Benge each had two hits.
Atkins 8, Jessieville 0 (5 inns)
Thanks to six hit batsmen by Lions (16-8) pitchers, Atkins (20-6) only needed four hits to record the mercy rule victory and advance to Monday's title game.
Four hit batsmen led to a four-run second inning as Robert Deal, Coby Robinson, Connor Johnson and Ty Frazier each scored a run. Two hit batsmen in the fifth helped the Red Devils add four more runs to end the game.
Sophomore right-hander Ben Jackson fired a two-hit shutout while striking out two and walking none. He also was 2-for-3 with four RBIs.
Softball
Charleston 4, Mansfield 2
Sierra Montgomery snapped a 2-2 tie with an RBI double down the left-field line in the sixth inning to lift the Lady Tigers into the title game.
Consecutive base hits by Montgomery, Lacey McKenzie and Emma McKinney, who each had two hits, resulted in two runs for the Charleston in the first inning. Montgomery also scored on a fielder's choice in the sixth to create the final margin.
For Mansfield (13-7), Whittney Clark singled and scored on Rylea Weaver's single in the first inning. Weaver then drove in MaKayla Bolton, who reached on single, to tie the score in the third inning.
Atkins 5, Paris 1
The Lady Red Devils (19-7) took advantage of six Paris errors to advance to Monday's title game. They'll play Charleston at 2:30 p.m.
Atkins pitcher Sydney Webb struck out eight, walked none and scattered six hits to pick up the victory. Paris (6-14) finally scratched out a run in the sixth when Morgan Johnson led off with a single and scored on a single by Macey Hurt.
Mary Kate Brown was 2-for-2 with two runs and Shelby Davis was 2-for-3 with three RBIs to lead Atkins offensively.
Sports on 05/07/2017