Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

The Troup baseball team punched its ticket to the Elite 8 for the second straight season. The Tigers brought out the brooms and swept an incredibly competitive doubleheader against Dawson County in the second round of the state playoffs.

 

GAME ONE:

TROUP – 5

DAWSON COUNTY – 4

 

The opening game belonged to Torreion Delaney. The Troup outfielder stole home in the bottom of the seventh inning with two outs to give the Tigers a walk-off win. 

“I just saw the catcher on his knees, just casually throwing it back to the pitcher, and took off,” Delaney said. “I was a little worried, but at the same time, I was so locked in I didn’t even give it a second thought.”

The home crowd went into a pandemonium as Delaney’s teammates swarmed their hero of the night. 

“It was so exciting, I don’t even know how to describe it,” he said. “I didn’t even know what was going on at first, but I knew I was safe when I heard everybody screaming and yelling.”

Dawson County opened the scoring in game one with a run in the top of the first inning. The Tigers had a quick response, tying the game in the bottom of the first when Fisher Baltzell laid down a sacrifice bunt to send Davis Moncus home. 

The game was stuck in a deadlock until the bottom of the fifth inning as Delaney came through with a massive one-run single to give Troup its first lead of the game. 

“I just tried to stand back, hit the ball and get it in play,” Delaney said.

The Tigers added a pair of insurance runs in the bottom of the sixth inning courtesy of a one-run single from Brady Willis and a throwing error.

Dawson County refused to go quietly into the night, scoring three runs in the top of the seventh inning to tie it up and extend the game. 

The Tigers had a chance to end the game in the top of the seventh, but an error with two outs let two runs reach home.

“We have to close games better,” Troup coach Tanner Glisson said. “We walked a lot of guys tonight, so we have to be better about controlling the strike zone and making sure we don’t allow teams to get back in the game.”

Perry and Delaney led the Tigers with two hits while Willis, Batzell and Carson Walker all had one apiece. 

Perry started on the mound for Troup and was superb, pitching 6 ⅓ innings in which he allowed five hits and two earned runs on six strikeouts. Moncus got the final two outs on the mound for Troup. 

 

GAME TWO:

TROUP – 8

DAWSON COUNTY – 5

 

Troup took an early lead in game two with a pair of runs in the top of the first inning. Walker hit a one-run single and Willis got an RBI groundout.

Dawson County would get a run back in the bottom of the first, halving the deficit. 

The Tigers got that run back in the top of the third with Parker Townsend reaching home on an error. 

Dawson County cut the Troup lead back down to one run in the bottom of the fourth inning. 

The Tigers eventually extended their lead back out to two runs in the top of the sixth as Jake Perry singled to send a run home. 

Troup was not done adding to its tally, scoring four runs in the seventh to get some breathing room. Moncus singled to drive home the first run of the inning. Moncus reached home later in the inning on an error to give Troup a 6-2 advantage. Chase Mosley sent two more runs home with a double. 

Dawson County got a rally started in the bottom of the seventh, but it fell well short of extending the game as the team scored just three runs, well shy of the six needed to extend the game. 

“We know that these are going to be the type of games we are in from here on out,” Glisson said. “They kept throwing punches, but we were able to keep throwing punches back.”

Moncus and Walker led the Tigers with two hits, with Garrison Edwards, Willis, Mosley and Perry all having one apiece. 

Moncus got the start in game two, pitching 3 ⅓ innings before making way for Cason Spears and Mosley, who combined to pitch the final 3 ⅔ innings. 

 

WHAT’S NEXT:

The Tigers will host either Oconee County or Jefferson in the 3A state quarterfinals. The first two games of the series will be played on Wednesday with a potential game three scheduled for Thursday. 

This is the team’s fourth Elite 8 appearance in the last five years.

“The crowd is great and we love playing here, we have lost just one game here all season,” Glisson said. “Previously, we have had to go on the road for the Elite 8, but our guys have worked all season to get the chance to host.”