Troup Has No Trouble With District 18-2A Rival Arp, 13-2

TROUP -- The Troup Tigers handled business Tuesday night, defeating rival Arp 13-2 to stay in the hunt for the District 18-2A title.

Troup (9-1 in district) was led by Lou Roberson and Mason Mallard, who each had two hits and two RBIs. Brandon Hearon also chipped in with two hits.

Pitcher Seth Gibson came on in relief in the second and threw 3 2/3 innings of shutout ball, surrendering only one hit in the process, to notch the win.

"This is a huge win for us," said Troup coach William Tell. "You never want to lose to your rival, and it was nice to see how we handled adversity. We started a kid tonight who hasn't pitched all year. Our normal Tuesday starting pitcher (Luke Smith) is out with a broken jaw. They came out and took care of business and I was proud of them for that."

Troup had big innings in the second and the sixth. The Tigers plated six runs in the bottom of the second -- four unearned -- on two hits. Troup's cause was helped along by five passed balls. Roberson's two-out, two-run single highlighted the inning.

Troup scored five more runs in the sixth to bring the 10-run mercy rule into effect. The inning featured four hits, including Mallard's two-run double.

"We started off kind of sluggish, but you can expect that when we've had the distractions we had this week," Tell said. "As far as setting ourselves up for district, I have full confidence in this team. I've seen a lot of these kids grow up, and we're not scared of anybody. I just praise the kids because they work so hard for us."

The win kept Troup only a game behind league-leading Sabine, while Arp fell to 3-7 in district.

"Sabine beat us the first time, so we have to take care of business when we get back to them," Tell said. "We're not giving them the district championship just yet."

Arp's Michael Roberson had a sacrifice fly RBI in the second.

The teams combined for 19 walks, five hit batsmen and five errors.

Troup continues district play at Hawkins on Friday.