Piedmont cruises to fourth straight championship

The Piedmont Cougars made quick work of Terrell Academy on Saturday and cruised to their fourth straight GISA Class 2A baseball title with an 11-1 win for a two-game sweep.

Freshman Tate Marks battled through a difficult first inning and gave up only four hits and struck out six as Piedmont took advantage of five Terrell errors to get the win.

Three who mattered

Marks: The freshman right-hander showed a bit of nerves in the first, allowing the first three hitters to reach base. But Marks was able to get out of the inning with only one run scoring, and he cruised after that, allowing only four baserunners the rest of the game.

Rob Allgood: The No. 7 hitter in the Piedmont order had two hits, scored three times and also drove in a run.

Chase Porter: The Piedmont third baseman started two doubles plays in the field and added a two-run double at the plate to give Piedmont an early 5-1 lead.

Turning point

Terrell scored once in the first to take an early lead, but an Eagles error and an RBI by Allgood allowed Piedmont to score three times in the second. The Cougars added six more runs, with the help of big hits from Porter and Brock Carter in the third.

Observation

Errors kill: Each of Terrell’s errors led to a Piedmont run.

They said it

Piedmont head coach Wes Tanner on his team’s fourth straight championship: “I have been here for three years, and these kids just believe they are going to win. I have a great mix of young guys to go with six seniors, and although it’s never easy, these guys just know how to win. I mean, we didn’t even win our region, but when we had to we found a way to play our best baseball.”

Tanner on Saturday: “We spotted them a run, and then we hit the baseball, and as we have done all year, we took advantage of their mistakes. I thought we played very good baseball this weekend.”

Piedmont catcher Jay Sheets on Marks, who pitched a complete game: “He was nervous early, and I talked to him and told him to just settle down and throw strikes. Once he settled down he was in control.”

Sheets on another state championship: “It wasn’t easy the entire year, and this one feels every bit as good as last year. We just found a way to get it done.”