![Canton Takes Series Opener From Carthage, 5-2](http://townsquare.media/site/542/files/2018/05/MDM-6694.jpg?w=980&q=75)
Canton Takes Series Opener From Carthage, 5-2
TYLER — The Canton Eagles took Game 1 of their Class 4A Region II area best-of-three baseball playoff series with a 5-2 win over Carthage on Friday night at Mike Carter Field.
The series resumes at 2 p.m. Saturday with Game 2. A third game, if necessary, would immediately follow.
Canton (28-3) broke a tie with three runs in the sixth inning, and got out of a bases-loaded jam in the bottom of the seventh inning to preserve the victory.
John Adams went 2-for-4 with an RBI and two runs scored in leading Canton’s 11-hit attack. His bloop single to shallow center field gave the Eagles a 2-1 lead in the sixth.
Eagles starting pitcher Simon Miller picked up the win, allowing one run on three hits with three strikeouts and three walks in 5 1/3 innings. He threw 88 pitches.
Cade Shaw got the final five outs for the save. He stranded two Carthage (17-9) runners in the sixth, and after allowing a run, escaped a bases-loaded, one-out situation in the seventh.
Carthage lefty Callahan Baldree suffered the loss. He allowed four runs on eight hits with five strikeouts and one walk in 5 1/3 innings, throwing 89 pitches.
Seth Smith drove in both Bulldogs run, while Jackson Blissett was 2-for-4 with a double.
Adams singled with two outs in the fourth, moved to third on Shaw’s hit up the middle, and scored when Tyler Massey beat out an infield single for a 1-0 Canton lead.
Carthage knotted the game in the fifth when Smith hit a sacrifice fly to right field, scoring Si Schumacher.
Following Adams’ go-ahead single for Canton in the sixth, Cameron Sullivan singled home a run, and Shaw came home a wild pitch to push Canton’s lead to 4-1.
The Eagles added a fifth run in the top of the seventh on a wild pitch.
Carthage got the bottom of the seventh started with back-to-back singles from Baylor Collie and Kelan Foster. Smith’s single to left trimmed the Bulldogs’ deficit to three runs.
But then Foster was thrown out at home on a ground ball to third, and Shaw retired Blissett on strikes and Dylan Leach on a grounder to first to end the game.
Canton 5, Carthage 2
Class 4A Region II Area Series
Game 2, Mike Carter Field, Tyler
Canton 000 103 1 — 5 11 0
Carthage 000 010 1 — 2 7 3
Pitchers and catchers
- Canton: Simon Miller, Cade Shaw (6) and McGwire Martin.
- Carthage: Callahan Baldree, Tucker Smith (6) and Gunner Capps.
WP — Miller.
LP — Baldree.
S — Shaw.
Doubles
- Carthage: Jackson Blissett.
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