By Kevin Eckleberry

kevin.eckleberry@lagrangenews.com

CEDARTOWN – The Troup Tigers staged a dramatic late-game rally to beat the Cedartown Bulldogs 2-1 on Friday in a Region 5-AAAA game.

Trailing 1-0, Troup pushed two runs across in the top of the seventh inning, and Cedartown was unable to answer in the bottom of the inning.

Troup (15-8 overall) improved to 5-2 in region play, and it is in second place, just a half-game behind LaGrange, which didn’t play on Friday.

Colby Williams, who has been performing at a remarkably high level this season, pitched the seven-inning complete game to get the win.

Williams has been the winning pitcher in region road wins over LaGrange, Cartersville and Cedartown, and he has allowed just two runs in those games combined.

In Friday’s game, Williams gave up five hits and one run, and he had eight strikeouts.

The Bulldogs scored their lone run in the bottom of the fourth inning, and for a while it looked like that might be enough.

Finally, in the seventh inning, Troup broke through.

With one out, Brantly Robinson reached on an error to jump-start the game-winning rally.

Kenly Bridwell followed with a base hit, and Jarred Helton reached on a fielder’s choice that brought Robinson home with the tying run.

With two outs, Ryan Bliss kept the inning alive with a base hit, and Cooper Doughman followed with an RBI single that brought pinch-runner Luke Swanson home with the go-ahead run.

Williams set the Bulldogs down in order in the bottom of the seventh to finish it.

SOCCER: Troup’s boys’ and girls’ teams headed into spring break in fine style with wins over Griffin at Callaway Stadium.

In the girls’ game, Troup won 4-2, and Emily Schoonover led the way with three goals while Shelby Culver had one goal.

In the boys’ game, Troup rolled to a 9-1 victory, with Helsyn Martinez leading the way with three goals.

Alan Vazquez had two goals, and Jimmy Cancino, Neal Patel, Jacob Hines and Anders Laurents each had one goal.

OF NOTE: For much more on Friday’s soccer games, including photos, see Monday’s sport section. Also, go to Facebook.com/LDNSports for photos.