MONTICELLO, Ga. — Piedmont Academy’s baseball seniors walked off Claude Smith Field at Mercer University’s OrthoGeorgia Park not ever knowing what it feels like to lose a post-season playoff series.
The Cougars won their fourth consecutive Georgia Independent School Association (GISA) Class AA state championship with a resounding 11-1, six inning victory over Terrell Academy to complete the two-game sweep over the weekend in their best of three series.
Here’s the breakdown of Piedmont’s two title-clinching wins:
Game One: Piedmont 4 - Terrell 1
Sophomore Sam Wright pitched a complete game allowing just one run on four hits. Terrell’s lone run came in the bottom of the first inning. The Eagles (22-3) held the lead until the top of the fifth when Wright doubled to left center field. Wright’s courtesy runner, Caleb Faircloth, scored from third on a sharply hit ball that Terrell shortstop William Chambless mishandled.
The Cougars (23-6) took the lead for good in game one when JT Webb scored on a pass ball, and Piedmont provided Wright some additional breathing room on a bunt single by senior, Mack Brady which caused havoc with the Eagles’ infield and brought in the final two runs. All four Piedmont runs came with two hits in game one.
Game Two: Piedmont 11 - Terrell 1 (six innings)
Game two began identically to game one with the Eagles scoring a run in the first inning of play with Piedmont freshman, Tate Marks, on the mound. From that point on, Marks shut down Terrell for the remainder of the game, giving up only four hits while going the distance for the champions.
The Cougars did not wait as long to show their intentions in game two, as they struck for three runs in the second and six runs in the third inning against the shell-shocked Eagles. Terrell entered the state semi-finals undefeated, but were unable to close out their successful season with a championship.
The bottom half of the Piedmont order led the way in game two. Sophomores, Chase Porter and Rob Allgood, drove in three runs and had four hits to lead the way. Allgood also scored the game clinching run in the sixth inning. Porter’s line drive double in the third inning stretched the lead to 5-1 and, for all practical purposes, put the game out of reach.
Senior Legacy
The game marked the end of illustrious high school careers for seniors Mack Brady, Tyler Mills, Wyatt Galloway, Jay Sheets, Michael Edwards and Brock Carter. Brady was a three-time all-region and two-time all-state player. He will continue his playing career at Augusta State University. Tyler MIlls and Wyatt Galloway are two-time all-region players. Galloway will not continue his playing career past high school, but will continue his education at the United States Naval Academy following his appointment this spring.
Catcher Jay Sheets and outfielder Michael Edwards each garnered two all-region awards and one all-state placement. Sheets will continue his career at Piedmont College this fall.
Brock Carter was named to three all-region and all-state teams and will attend the University of North Georgia next year as a pitcher.
Piedmont’s six seniors ended their high school career not only with four rings, but with a cumulative record of 95-25 and a gaudy post season record of 32-2.
