The Allatoona baseball program is on its way to the Final Four as the Buccaneers swept North Oconee in the quarterfinals to reach the semis for the first time since the 2021 GHSA baseball season, where they made it all the way to the state championship game before losing to Pope.
The Buccaneers took a pair of victories against the North Oconee Titans, winning 5-1 in game one and followed it up with a 5-3 win in game two to sweep the Titans and book their spot in the Class 4A semifinals.
In game one, the Buccaneers found themselves in a 1-0 hole after the top of the first but were able to tie the game in the bottom of the third at 1-1. In the bottom of the fifth, the bats came alive for Allatoona as the Buccaneers rattled off four runs which proved to be the difference in the first game of the series.
The Buccaneers outhit the Titans 9-4 in the first game of the series while North Oconee accounted for four errors to Allatoona’s zero, proving to be a major difference in game one.
Seniors Ben Harrison and Dylan Mancini were the only Buccaneers to account for multiple hits in the first game as Harrison notched an RBI, Mancini had two of his own and senior Jacob Jenkins added one more to account for all five runs.
Senior pitcher Cooper Underwood was exceptional once again, accounting for nine strikeouts and allowing just four hits in seven innings pitched.
Game two was lengthy as it took a total of 15 innings for a winner to be decided with Allatoona ultimately taking it 5-3 in extra innings.
Five players recorded multiple hits for the Buccaneers including Harrison along with seniors Anthony Planeta, Cruz Paul, and Sam Tomczak along with junior Cooper Slayton who led the team with three hits in seven plate appearances adding two RBIs on the day to his totals.
Along with leading the team in hits in the second game of the series, Slayton earned the win for North Oconee on the mound as he accounted for five strikeouts in just three innings pitched.
Looking ahead to the Final Four, Allatoona will travel to Blessed Trinity to play the Titans on Tuesday, May 13 for a spot in the Class 4A state championship. The winner of the Allatoona/Blessed Trinity series will take on the winner of the Wayne County and Cartersville series.
The last time these two programs met in the postseason, Blessed Trinity bested Allatoona, sweeping the Buccaneers in two games in the second round in 2022.
The Buccaneers are on the hunt for the programs first-ever baseball state championship as they look to make history beginning with next week’s semifinals series against Blessed Trinity.
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