MONTICELLO- The Crisp Academy Wildcats made the trip up to Monticello to play Piedmont Academy in the second round of the GISA AA state baseball playoffs on Friday afternoon. The four time defending AA state champion Piedmont Cougars defeated CA in the first round of the playoffs last season, and they ended the Wildcats’ season again this season after winning the best of three series by taking the first two games on Friday afternoon.

Game One

Piedmont opened the scoring in the first game with a couple of runs in the bottom half of the first inning, and they then added to the lead in the bottom of the third with a 10-run inning.

The Wildcats put their only run of the game on the board in the top of the fourth inning. Dylan Farmer led off the inning with a base hit, and Baylor Pless followed up with a four-pitch walk to give Crisp runners on first and second. The two runners advanced to the next base after a wild pitch, and Zach Pate hit an RBI single to right field to send Farmer in to score.

Aaron Titshaw hit a two-out double in the top of the fifth inning to give the Wildcats hope of scoring to extend the game another inning, but Piedmont finished the game for a 12-1 run-rule win after five innings.

Julian Floyd put in a solid effort after coming in to pitch in the third inning, pitching one and a third innings, allowing just one hit and striking out two batters.

Game Two

In game two, Piedmont opened up the scoring with three runs in the top of the first inning, and another three in the top of the second inning. The Cougars were able to push two more runs across in the top of the fourth inning to take an 8-0 lead into the bottom of the fourth.

The Wildcats found some life in the bottom of the fourth inning by putting a run on the board. Aaron Titshaw led off the inning with a base hit, and he later moved into scoring position on a groundout from Dylan Farmer. An infield hit by Baylor Pless then gave Crisp runners at first and third, and Titshaw was subsequently able to score the lone Wildcat run of the game on an error.

Piedmont immediately threatened to tack on more runs in the top of the fifth inning after the first two batters of the inning reached base. Relief pitcher, Julian Floyd, was able get out of the jam after a groundball to Wildcat third baseman, Zach Pate, led to a double play, and the following batter flew out to centerfield. Piedmont maintained an 8-1 led heading into the bottom of the fifth.

Piedmont tacked on another couple of runs in the top half of the sixth inning to take a 10-1 lead.

The Wildcats ended up with a decent chance to make the score closer in the bottom half of the sixth inning after getting several runners on base. Floyd led off the inning by reaching base on a hit by pitch, and Titshaw used a hard fought plate appearance to draw an eight-pitch walk. Pless subsequently put the ball in play and reached on an error by the Piedmont defense to load up the bases with just one out. Piedmont was able to keep Crisp scoreless in the inning, however, with a couple of big strikeouts.

Piedmont scored the final three runs of the game on a home run to deep left field that made the score 13-1.

The second round defeat at the hands of the four-time defending state champion ended Crisp Academy’s season. The Wildcats finished the season with a 10-11 overall record.