A strike away from suffering defeat against Rockmart Tuesday, Cass rallied from a three-run deficit to win 5-4 -- getting the decisive two-out, two-strike hit from Brandon Etheridge, whose double scored two runs.
Colonels coach Todd Eubanks said Etheridge hit a bases-loaded, opposite-field double to left field to win the ballgame in the bottom of the seventh.
"The kids never quit. [We were] down 4-1 going into the last at-bat," Eubanks said. "[We were] down to our last pitch and [we] find a way to win -- done that twice this year. ... They found a way to do it."
Chaz Wilson singled to lead off the seventh and reached second on an error. Cameron Ray's groundout to second advanced Wilson to third, where he was driven in by Sam Ayers to cut the deficit to two. Back-to-back walks to Dalton Parham and Tyler Gates loaded the bases for Cass. Connor Law then drew the third straight walk as the Yellow Jacket lead stood at 4-3.
Following a strikeout to record its second out, Rockmart neared victory until Etheridge took the fourth offering from Luke Hembree to left to win the ballgame.
The Colonels led 1-0 in the first after Law's single scored Parham, but the Yellow Jackets took a 3-1 lead in the third and added a run in the fifth for a 4-1 advantage.
Eubanks' team hadn't played since last Tuesday when it defeated Adairsville 10-2. Cass had been scheduled to play Thomasville and Henry County last Saturday in the Diamond Dawg Challenge at Mary Persons, but those tournament games were postponed due to rain.
"We've had a week layoff, and we played pretty flat for most of the ballgame," the Colonels coach said. "Pitching kept us in the game in the seventh inning. We were fortunate to find a way to score four [runs]."
Pitching for Cass were Dylan Williams (two innings, three strikeouts, one hit, hit batter); Parham (one inning, one strikeout, one hit, two walks, hit batter); Etheridge (three innings, three strikeouts, three hits, one walk); and Gates (one inning).
Colonels hitters were Ayers, 2 for 4; Parham, 1 for 3 (hit by a pitch); Gates, 1 for 3 (walk); Law, 1 for 3 (walk); Williams, 1 for 3 (walk); Etheridge, 1 for 4; and Wilson, 1 for 3.
Cass (3-1) begins Region 7-AAAA play Friday with a 5:55 p.m. game against visiting South Forsyth.