By KEVIN ECKLEBERRY

Daily News

CARROLLTON – It’s time for the showdown.

The Troup Tigers beat Central-Carroll 4-2 on Thursday, and they’ll be at home today against the Cartersville Purple Hurricanes.

Troup and Cartersville are both unbeaten in the region, and the winner of today’s game will be alone in first place.

Troup improved to 4-0 in the region with Thursday’s road win over Central-Carroll.

Brantly Robinson got the start for Troup, and he threw the first five innings to get the win, and Ryan Bliss and Colby Williams pitched the final two innings.

Robinson gave up nine hits and three walks, but he held Central-Carroll to two runs.

Bliss pitched a scoreless sixth inning, and Williams struck out the side and didn’t allow any runs runs in the seventh.

Bliss continued to shine from the leadoff spot in the order with a double and a triple, and he scored three runs.

Williams had a hit and two RBIs, and Caleb McCurry had a hit and one RBI.

Garrett Casey, Luke Purnell and Robinson each had one hit.

The Tigers jumped on top with a run in the top of the first.

Bliss led off with a stand-up double, and he scored on a base hit by Williams.

The Lions tied it in the bottom of the inning.

Reid Lovvorn and Dylan High had back-to-back singles, and Noah Taylor drove in a run with a fielder’s choice.

In the top of the third, Central-Carroll had some defensive breakdowns, committing three errors that led to a pair of Troup unearned runs.

The Tigers added an insurance run in the top of the fifth.

Bliss got things started with a triple, and he came home on a base hit by McCurry.

The Lions got a run on an RBI single by Carson Carroll in the bottom of the fifth, but Robinson worked out of a bases-loaded jam to keep it a two-run game.

Troup’s top two pitchers, Garrett Casey and Colby Williams, will both be available for today’s game.

Troup has only played one game this week, and while Casey hasn’t pitched at all, Williams only threw one stress-free inning.

A year ago, Troup beat Cartersville in both regular-season meetings, although both games were tight.

In the first meeting, Troup beat Cartersville 1-0, and it won the rematch 2-1.

In the 1-0 game, it was Williams throwing the complete-game shutout, and he threw an inning of scoreless relief in the second game.

Those two wins helped Troup win a second consecutive region championship, and a win today would be a big step toward a third straight title.

The two teams will play again on April 17 at Cartersville.