It was a cross-county rivalry match that brought fans from Jackets County and the Phoenix Nation together Saturday for the Bartow Gordon Middle School Athletic Association Baseball Region Championship.

The Sonoraville Phoenix, the defending 2011 regions champs, fought hard to bring home their second straight victory, but the hungry Calhoun Yellow Jackets stood in their way defeating the Phoenix 6-3.

Jordan Towe took the mound for Calhoun and once again pitched a complete game.

Calhoun statistician Brooks Gallman said earlier that Towe was one of their most consistent pitchers of the season, and that was proven during the championship game.

“The defense really backed him up with some nice plays in the field,” said Gallman.

Towe gave up 4 hits and struck out four Sonoraville batters on the day.

Getting the start for Sonoraville was their ace Easton Gallman.

“Our offensive game plan was to get to Easton Gallman early because we knew if he was on and able to pitch his game, we were in for a long day,” explained Gallman.

The game remained still until the bottom of the 3rd inning when the Phoenix, led by Jireh Wilson, Easton Gallman, Joseph Potts and Ryan Gross plated 3 runs.

It wasn’t long until the Jackets answered back in the top of the 4th inning when Easton Gallman allowed the first three Calhoun batters to get on base.

Sonoraville Baseball Head Coach Paul Hammond lifted Gallman once the bases were loaded and brought in Wilson in relief.

Calhoun continued with the momentum led by Tanner Gallman, Jordan Towe, Matt Mullinax, Dusty Baker and Grant Clark to tie the game at three all.

Sonoraville continued to switch pitchers throughout the game to try and stop the Calhoun offensive push but were unsuccessful.

In the top of the 5th inning, Calhoun put the Phoenix away for good scoring three more runs that secured the win.

“Another key factor in this game was our backup players cheering; they were making so much noise I believe it rattled their pitchers, but more importantly kept our players up,” said Gallman. “I remember Bryson Davis and Jake Miller both giving it all they had cheering and making noise, and even though they don’t get credit for any statistic in the scorebook, I know in my heart they were vital.”

Gallman said that the Calhoun baseball program appears to be ready to reload next year with more talented players and young men.

Calhoun Head Baseball Coach Tony Lindsey said that it was an honor to win the championship because this year the region was full of talent from top-to-bottom.

“Since they beat us last year, we obviously had that in the back of our mind,” said Lindsey. “It’s two different teams this year, but it’s that great cross-town rivalry; this may be one of the most special championships we have won here. We beat a good team.”

Hammond was disappointed that Sonoraville could not defend their title, but is looking to bounce back next year.

“We really came along way and I’m really happy with them,” said Hammond.

“We didn’t play our best game today, but it was still a dog fight and we never gave up; we played every pitch.”

Hammond went on to say that Sonoraville has great talent coming up next year from the sixth and seventh grade class that he is excited about for next year.

In other middle school action recently:

Track

The Sonoraville Phoenix track team were off to the races Thursday as they faced Rome, South Central and Adairsville.

According to Sonoraville Girls Track Coach Carmen Massengill the girls came in third place with 48 points while the boys team finished third as well with 43 points.

Lady Phoenix

 Alyssa Adams 2nd in Long Jump, 1st in High Jump, and 4th in 100

 Porsche McBride won Shot and was 2nd in Discus

 Autumn Fain was 3rd in Long Jump

 The 4x100 Relay team of Alyssa Adams, Breanna Drawdy, Olivia Bennett, and Kenzie Walraven took 2nd.

 Ruth Lister was 3rd in the 1600

 Harleigh Chastain was 3rd in the 400

 Kenzie Walraven was 2nd in the 100 and won the 200

 Maris Irick was 4th in the 100 Hurdles

 Olivia Bennett was 4th in 200

 Sarah Rigell was 4th in Shot and 4th in Discus

Phoenix

 Austin Carter was 4th in Long Jump, 3rd in High Jump, and was 4th in the 100

 Jacob Bagwell was 2nd in Shot and won the Discus

 William Long was 2nd in Discus

 The 4x100 Relay team of Austin Carter, Hunter Touhy, Jacob Bagwell, and Noah Ferguson took 3rd

 Drake Johnson was 2nd in the 1600 and 4th in the 800

 Nathaniel Smith was 2nd in the 400

 Dustin Edwards was 3rd in the 400

 Noah Ferguson was 4th in the 100 and 3rd in the 200

 Jose Torres won the 800

 Kiani Bearden was 4th in the 1600