A trio of Cartersville baseball players had hits that left the yard Monday as the Purple Hurricanes shut out host Heritage-Catoosa.

Cartersville had 13 hits in its 11-0 victory, led by second baseman Ben Venters, who nearly hit for the cycle.

Venters finished the night 3 for 4 with a two-run home run in the second inning and an RBI double. He also added a single.

Luke Daniel reached base on each of his at-bats, going 3 for 3 with a home run and four RBIs. Other key offensive contributors included Michael Goss, who hit a solo homer in the third, and Connor Justus and Harris Battle, who both had two hits in the game.

The Canes led 3-0 after the first and added three more runs in the second, one in the third and four in the fifth.

The game ended shortly after as a result of the GHSA mercy rule.

Kendall Hawkins earned the win for Cartersville, pitching two innings with no hits and one strikeout. Ben Dittmer and Sam Howard also took the hill for the Canes. Dittmer threw two innings, giving up two hits and striking out one, and Howard registered a strikeout as well in his inning of work.

“I thought we played really well. We came out and hit the ball … had four hits in the first inning and scored three runs,” Canes assistant coach Kyle Tucker said. “ Our pitchers threw a lot of strikes tonight. That’s something we want to [continue to do].”

Tucker felt the win was a good one for Cartersville considering the quality of the opponent.

“Heritage is a good team,” the Canes’ assistant added. “They’re sitting there in that fourth [region] spot. It’s a team that could potentially be in the playoffs.”

Cartersville (17-3, 16-1 Region 7-AAA) returns to Richard Bell Field on Thursday to host Murray County. The game is slated for a 5:55 p.m. start.