In Adairsville, it might be L-o-g-a-n T-a-n-t after the senior hurler entered Wednesday's game in the fourth inning with a 6-all tie and shut down the Armuchee Indians.
Shut down might be not be a strong enough term. Tant mowed down one Indian after another over three innings, giving up no hits while the Tigers put the sweet part of their bats on the ball to the tune of four runs in the fifth inning on the way to a 10-6 victory. The Adairsville hurler -- who also got the win -- retired nine batters in order while tallying one strikeout.
Head coach Eric Bishop said Tant gives the batters something to think about when the ball is zeroing in on a catcher's glove. "He just mixes up his speed and location, keeping the hitters off balance."
Adairsville scored two runs in the first and second inning, then added single runs in the third and fourth innings for a 6-1 lead. The Indians added five runs in the fourth and the game was knotted.
The Tigers sent four runners home in the fifth inning to close out scoring.
The Tigers were led by Michael Gwin, one hit with a double and two RBIs; Cody Beemiller, two hits, one home run and two RBIs; Cody Kremer, two RBIs; Barnes, three hits, including a double, and two RBIs; Ta-Li Martin, two hits.
Adairsville scored its 10 runs on 11 hits with no errors. Armuchee scored six runs on seven hits with six errors.
"The good things for us was getting off to a hot start," Bishop said. "But we had one bad inning and it's tied. Then we pulled together, got the lead, brought in Tant and he had those kinds of innings to get the win.."
The win was the 13th in a row for the Tigers, who now have a 16-2 overall record and are 8-0 in Region 7A-AA.
Also pitching for the Tigers was Jamey Barnes, who went three innings with four strikeouts and one earned run, and Caleb McCreary, who pitched an inning.
Adairsville returns to the diamond tonight, when it has a middle school celebration between its Junior Varsity game at 5 p.m. and its varsity game against Coosa at 7 p.m.