Diamond Devils take care of Chattooga in first round of GHSA baseball A state tournament
Elbert County senior Jose Rodriguez stole 10 bases, recorded two hits and scored six runs across two games against Chattooga in the first round of the state tournament. (Photo by Bo Underwood)
The Elbert County dugout celebrates. (Photo by Bo Underwood)
Jose Rodriguez celebrates after stealing a base. (Photo by Bo Underwood)
Brody Baker struck out nine batters while only allowing one hit in his first career playoff start. (Photo by Bo Underwood)
Jackson Black claps after hitting a triple. (Photo by Bo Underwood)
Alex Higginbotham signals "safe" as Jackson Black slides into home. (Photo by Bo Underwood)
The Elbert County dugout gives out high-fives after a run. (Photo by Bo Underwood)
Rylan Brown throws the ball. He went 3-for-5 with a 3-run home run in Elbert’s 12-6 win over Chattooga in Game 2. (Photo by Bo Underwood)
Alex Higginnbotham slides into home and is ruled safe. He drew a team-high five walks across Elbert’s two wins over Chattooga. (Photo by Bo Underwood)
The Elbert County baseball team is on to the sweet sixteen of the GHSA Class A Division I state tournament after sweeping a playoff doubleheader against Chattooga in the first round Friday afternoon. The Diamond Devils won the first game via run rule in the sixth inning, 11-1, before claiming the second game 12-6.
“I thought we pitched pretty well, I thought we hit it well,” head coach Lance Ingram said. “We put the balls in play, had some timely hits. We’ve just got to clean up a few mistakes in the field. I told them, ‘Every game we play from here on out is just gonna get tougher and tougher.’”
The Blue Devils were highly aggressive on the base paths. Ingram said the team had identified it as a potential weak point of Chattooga’s, and they certainly went after it. Elbert County stole 26 bases in two games. Rodriguez stole five bags apiece in each game for a total of 10 and McLendon stole home in both games.
