By KEVIN ECKLEBERRY

Daily News

The Troup Tigers made the country’s number one team work for it.

Last week, Blessed Trinity moved to the top spot in the Baseball America’s national poll, and on Thursday it hosted Troup in the second round of the Class AAAA state playoffs.

Troup took the lead in both ends of the doubleheader, but it was Blessed Trinity rallying in both games to get the sweep and advance to the quarterfinals to face Columbus.

In the first game, Troup had a 2-0 lead after the second inning, but Blessed Trinity won 3-2 to take the series lead.

Troup had the upper-hand in the second game as well, surging to a 4-0 lead with four runs in the bottom of the third.

Once again Blessed Trinity rallied, scoring the game’s final six runs to earn the 6-4 victory.

The losses put an end to an exceptional season for the Tigers.

Troup went 25-9, shared the Region 5-AAAA championship with Cartersville and won a playoff series before pushing the country’s top-ranked team to the limit.

In the second game, it was a scoreless game when Colby Williams stepped to the plate with the bases loaded in the bottom of the third.

Williams drove the ball to right field for a three-run double, and when a throw got away, he scored to give the Tigers a 4-0 lead.

Blessed Trinity cuts its deficit in half on a two-run home run by Jake Smith in the top of the fourth.

Blessed Trinity took the lead with three runs in the sixth inning, with Josh Voss giving his team a 5-4 lead on a two-run double.

Blessed Trinity added an insurance run in the top of the seventh on a Smith RBI single.

Trailing 6-4, Troup got a leadoff single from Cade Garner in the bottom of the seventh, but the next three batters were retired by Blessed Trinity reliever Jake Smith.

Colby Williams pitched a complete game for Troup.

Williams had two hits and three RBIs, and Caleb McCurry, Cooper Doughman and Garner each had a hit.

Leadoff hitter Ryan Bliss walked and scored a run.

In the first game, Troup scored single runs in the first two innings to grab the 2-0 lead.

Blessed Trinity notched a run in the bottom of the second before taking the lead with two runs in the fifth inning.

Garrett Casey was the tough-luck loser for Troup.

Casey, a junior left-hander, pitched the six-inning complete game, and he gave up six hits and three runs against one of the state’s top lineups.

Williams and Kenly Bridwell each had an RBI hit for Troup, and Bliss, Casey and Ethan Morton had one hit apiece.