The Troup County 13-14-year-old all-stars have played two games in the Dixie Boys Baseball state tournament in Columbus, and they’ve clubbed both opponents.
After blanking Buford 13-0 in Saturday’s opener, Troup overwhelmed West Georgia (Columbus) 11-1 on Sunday.
Troup has earned a bye today thanks to its two wins, and it will return to the field on Tuesday at 8 p.m.
“It was a good win,” Troup coach Huey Hood said. “They beat Columbia County (on Saturday), so we knew it was going to be a quality opponent.”
Cody Mimbs did the job on the mound, striking out nine in four innings of work to get the win.
Tristain Daugherty pitched the fifth and final inning.
At the plate, Troup started a bit slowly.
Troup scored three runs in the bottom of the first, with Daugherty delivering an RBI double.
Troup didn’t score in the second and third innings, but it plated three runs in the fourth and five more in the fifth to reach 11 runs and bring the 10-run rule into play.
“We kept trying to lift the ball a lot (early). We were getting really anxious,” said Troup catcher Colby Freeman, who had two hits and two RBIs from the leadoff position “Once we blew it open there was no turning back.”
Jonathan Foster provided the game’s big blow, a two-run home run that easily cleared the left-field fence in the fourth inning.
“It was right down the middle,” Foster said. “I just put a good swing on it.”
Troup finished with 11 hits.
Freeman and Hakeem Stargell each had two hits, and Daugherty, Freeman and Foster each knocked in two runs.
The 11 runs were more than enough support for Troup’s pitchers, who were dominant, allowing just one hit while striking out 10.
West Georgia got a two-out double in the first for its lone hit.
Mimbs walked four batters and threw a lot of pitches, but when he put the ball over the plate, West Georgia’s hitters didn’t have a chance.
West Georgia’s only run came on a balk with a runner at third in the first inning.
“I feel I battled,” Mimbs said. “I only had two pitches. My second pitch was my slider. I didn’t throw it too much.”
Daugherty walked the first two hitters he faced in the fifth, but he retired the next three batters to end that threat.
After West Georgia scored a run in the top of the first to take a 1-0 lead, Troup answered with three runs in its half of the first to take a lead it wouldn’t relinquish..
Freeman and Perry Keith were each hit by a pitch leading off the game.
Tyler Bunn, who was running for Freeman, stole third base, and he scored Troup’s first run when the catcher’s throw went awry.
Daugherty then lifted a flyball to right that couldn’t be corralled by a West Georgia fielder, and he made it second for an RBI double.
Daugherty later scored the third run on a double steal.
When the throw went to second, Daugherty sprinted for home and scored easily.
After Mimbs struck out the side in the top of the fourth, Troup went to work in the home half of the fourth.
With one out, Hakeem Stargell and Freeman had back-to-back singles.
The inning’s first run scored on an error, bringing Foster to the plate.
He got a pitch over the plate, and he launched it into the night sky in Columbus, giving Troup a 6-1 lead and setting off a celebration at home plate.
“That was a good poke,” Hood said.
Troup kept it going in the fifth.
Mimbs drove in a run when his grounder was misplayed, and Austin Garrett scored on a wild pitch for the eighth run.
Later in the inning, Freeman’s base hit drove in two more runs to make it 10-1, and when Bunn scored on a wild pitch, Troup had a 10-run lead, and that was that.
In Saturday’s game, Troup had an easy time of it with Buford.
Keith started and pitched two innings to get the win.
He gave up a hit and struck out five.
C.J. Tatum, Bunn and Logan Hood also pitched for Troup.
In the first inning, Keith, Freeman, Hood and Mimbs each had RBI singles.
Troup kept pouring it on in the second.
Freeman had two RBI doubles in the inning, and Keith, Chase Freeman and Tatum each plated runs with singles.
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