Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

The Troup High baseball team had a long and illustrious history, but the one thing they didn’t have was a state title. That changed on Wednesday when Troup topped Cherokee Bluff 6-3 in game 3 of the GHSA AAA State Championship series. 

“It feels so great to go out with a state championship,” a grinning Fisher Baltzell said after playing his final game with Troup. “I wouldn’t want to do this with any other group of guys.”

After starting the season 6-6, a state championship began to look like a pipe dream. The Tigers never saw it that way and put their heads down and went to work. A team that took a minute to gel at the start of the season was far from the one that formed a dogpile between first and second base after the conclusion of Wednesday’s game.

“This is kind of surreal,” Troup coach Tanner Glisson said. “I keep looking around and trying to figure out what is next. First and foremost, I want to thank our lord and savior, Jesus Christ. This is a faith-based team. We pray together, we stay together and for these guys up here, it is not about any one of them, it’s about the whole team and the whole program.”

For a large portion of the team, this is the culmination of playing a lot of games over the years together, from parks and rec to all-star teams to travel ball teams and now at Troup High.

“Y’all just need to check our resume,” junior Jake Perry said. “We have won so many championships now that I don’t know how many.”

 

GAME THREE:

Troup – 6

Cherokee Bluff – 3

 

The Bears got off to a hot start in game three, picking up just where they left off in game two. Cherokee Bluff put three runs on the board to take an early lead.

“Cherokee Bluff is an outstanding ball club, and there is a reason they played in this game last year,” Glisson said. “They have swung the bat better than any team that we have faced this year. We are a scrappy team, we aren’t going to hang our heads, we’re just going to go about playing our game.”

Troup was not flustered, scoring two runs in the bottom of the first inning to chip into the deficit. Carson Walker got an RBI groundout to get Troup off and running. Fisher Baltzell hit a triple that drove home a second run. Despite having Baltzell on third base with one out, the Tigers could not tie the game up.

The Troup offense was unfazed and continued to plug away. The Tigers planted their flag and took control of the game with three runs in the third inning, taking a 5-3 lead.

Walker drove in the first run of the inning with a single, knotting the game up at three runs apiece. Chase Mosley then sent two runs home with a triple. The Tigers had a chance at more, but Fisher Baltzell was tagged out sliding home, and Mosley was never able to reach home from third bas,e but it would not matter.

Walker continued his monster game in the fourth inning, singling to send a sixth run of the game home for Troup. Walker finished the game 2-for-3 with three RBIs. 

“Honestly, the ball looked like a beach ball today,” Walker said, laughing. “I just came in and made sure to change my approach from yesterday.”

After a rough first inning, pitcher David Moncus settled in nicely. The sophomore pitched a complete game, and no matter what happened after the first, Glisson was rolling with his guy. 

“If we would have taken him out early, we would have put him back in to close the game,” Glisson said. “This is my guy right here, I will always ride with him.”

After allowing three earned runs in the first, Moncus dominated and allowed just seven hits in total.

“Every game I will have some shaky innings, but this time I knew I had to really dial it in for my team,” Moncus said. “You don’t have to throw a ball every time, just throw it down there and let your team play defense behind you.”

Walker and Baltzell had two hits apiece to lead the Troup offense. The Tigers got a hit from Moncus, Mosley, Torreion Delaney and Garrison Edwards. 

The final out served as a special father-son moment for Chase and his father, assistant coach Charles Mosley.

“It was so special, he runs out of the dugout to find me after every big win,” Chase said. “I’m so appreciative of him because I know how hard he is on me, but he wants me to be the best man I can be.”

 

GAME ONE:

Troup – 5

Cherokee Bluff – 1

 

The Tigers got off to a quick start in game one. After a scoreless first inning, Troup broke the deadlock in the bottom of the second inning. Jake Perry drove in the first run with a single and Torreion Delaney sent the second home with a double to give the Tigers an early 2-0 advantage.

The Troup lead would stay at two runs until the bottom of the fourth. The Tigers took a commanding 5-0 lead with a trio of runs. An Ethan Goff double got the scoring started in the inning. Delaney kept up his torrid start with an RBI single to give Troup a 4-0 lead. Garrison Edwards closed out the scoring in the inning with an RBI single.

“We really were able to find some holes and find the gaps in ways that we couldn’t do in game two,” Glisson said.

The Bears struck back with a run in the top of the fifth inning, but could not add more as the Tigers slammed the door on the rally attempt. 

Jake Perry got the start on the mound for Troup and was immense, pitching a complete game. The junior allowed just five hits and one earned run on five strikeouts. 

“Jake has been like that all playoffs for us, and he delivers again tonight,” Glisson said. “I was really, really proud of his performance and the defense behind him.”

Delaney led the offense with two hits and two RBIs while Goff, Perry, Edwards, Davis Moncus, Brady Willis and Carson Walker all had one hit apiece. 

 

GAME TWO:

Troup – 0

Cherokee Bluff – 15

 

The second game was an absolute mess for the Tigers. The third inning proved disastrous as Cherokee Bluff found a way to score eight runs and put the Tigers to the sword early.

It only got worse for Troup from there as the Bears added seven more runs in the fourth inning to end the game by mercy rule. 

The Tigers completely unraveled, committing five errors and using a whole platoon of pitchers. Chase Mosley started on the mound before being replaced by Rylan Cantrell and Cason Spears, who also struggled to contain the potent bats of the Bears.

“We lost our composure when things started to go sideways there,” Glisson said. “I think we just had a pretty good meeting after the game, so I hope that will help them refocus.”

The Troup offense struggled to get anything going as well, producing just two hits —- one from Walker and one from Mosley.  

“It’s a big ball park and there were just too many times that we hit the ball in the air and let them make an out,” Glisson said. “That’s also a really good pitcher, he started in game one of the state championship for them last year.”