Ringgold, Ga — The Pickens Dragons, made the trip up to Ringgold on Friday, February 28th as they took on the Tigers in their final non-region game before 6-AAA play started. Coming into the game, the Dragons, were 8-0. The Tigers, were 5-3. After trailing 7-1, the Tigers, would come back to pick up an 8-7 win over the Dragons.

A.J. Rice, looked to get things started early for the Dragons as he reached on lead off single. The Tigers, would induce a double play to clear the bases. Cade Sutton, would keep the inning alive as he would reach base after an error. Tigers starter Wesley Blair, would get out of the inning with a ground out. The Tigers, looked to put some runs up early as they would pick up a pair of walks and a single to load the bases with nobody out.

Dragons starter Christian Starks, was able to get out of the bases loaded jam as he picked up a pair of strikeouts and a fly out to send it to the second with the score still tied at 0.

Sam Hammontree, would reach with a 1-out single. Dawson Holland, would follow that up with a single of his own. Matthew Davis, would then draw a walk to load the bases with 1-out. A 2-RBI single by Jennings Allen, would score both Hammontree and Holland to make it 2-0 Dragons. Davis and Allen, would come around to score as Rice would reach on an error.

Rice, would then make his way home as Starks would reach on an error to make it 5-0 Dragons. The Tigers, would get out of the top of the second with a double play trailing the Dragons, 5-0. Blair, would reach on an error to lead off the bottom of the second. The Dragons defense, would then turn a 4-6-3 double play to clear the bases. Cade Broom, would keep the inning going by drawing a 2-out walk.

Starks, would get out of the second with his 3rd strikeout of the game to send it to the third with the Dragons leading the Tigers, 5-0.

In the top half of the third, Dawson Lowitt, would draw a 1-out walk to reach base. Lowitt, would then take 2nd after a throwing error on a pick off attempt. Hammontree, would draw a walk to put runners at 1st and 2nd with 1-out. Holland, would then reach on a fielder’s choice as Hammontree would be forced out at 2nd. Holland, would then steal 2nd to put runners at 2nd and 3rd.

Davis, would drive in both Lowitt and Holland with a double to make it 7-0 Dragons. The Tigers, would get out of the inning with a ground out to send it to the bottom of the third. In the bottom of the third, Jackson Black, would lead off with a single. Garrett Edgar and Eli Crew, would follow with back to back walks to load the bases with nobody out. Haddon Fries, would drive in Black with a sacrifice fly RBI to make it 7-1.

Starks, would get out of the inning by inducing a 4-6-3 double play to send it to the fourth with the Dragons leading the Tigers, 7-1.

Starks, would look to get something going for the Dragons as he would reach on an error with 1-out. Sutton, would follow by drawing a walk to put runners at 1st and 2nd. Starks and Sutton, would then advance up a base after a passed ball. The Tigers, would get out of the third with a pop out and a ground out to send it to the bottom of the fourth with the Dragons leading, 7-1.

In the bottom of the fourth, the Tigers, would draw a few walks as well as take advantage of some errors by the Dragons as they would plate 5 runs to get back into the game. Heading to the fifth, the Dragons, were hanging on to a 7-6 lead.

The Dragons, would go down in order in the top of the fifth as the Tigers would force a pair of fly outs and a line out. Daven Abernathy, who came on in relief in the bottom of the fourth, would work around a 1-out walk in the bottom of the fifth as the Dragons would send it to the sixth, clinging to a 7-6 lead.

In the top of the sixth, the Dragons, would again go down in order as the Tigers would pick up a ground out and two strikeouts to send it to the bottom of the sixth. In the bottom of the frame, Crew, would reach first on an error with 1-out. Fries, would follow with a single to put runners at 1st and 2nd. A wild pitch, would allow pitch runner Franklin Helsel and Fries to move up a base.

Helsel, would then come in to score on a fielder’s choice. Fries, would also come in to score after a fielder’s choice as the Tigers would take an 8-7 lead into the seventh.

Sutton, would lead off the top of the seventh with a single. Kam Jenkins, would then follow that up by drawing a walk to put runners at 1st and 2nd. A ground out by Lowitt, would advance the runners over to 2nd and 3rd. The Tigers, would end the game with a double play as Ringgold would hold on to defeat Pickens, 8-7.

Stats for the Dragons:

A.J. Rice: 1-4 with 1 single and 1 run scored

Christian Starks: 3 IP, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 H, 5 BB, 3 K on 66 pitches

Cade Sutton: 1-3 with 1 single and 1 walk

Kam Jenkins: 1 walk

Dawson Lowitt: 1 walk and 1 run scored

Sam Hammontree: 1-3 with 1 single, 1 walk, and 1 run scored

Dawson Holland: 1-3 with 1 single, 1 steal, and 2 runs scored

Matthew Davis: 1-2 with 1 double, 1 walk, 2 RBI, and 1 run scored

Jennings Allen: 1-3 with 1 single, 2 RBI, and 1 run scored

The Dragons, will be back in action on Tuesday, March 4th as they begin 6-AAA play with a three game series against the White County Warriors. The first game of the series will be at White County with a first pitch time scheduled for 5:55 pm.