Darton State stays alive with a victory

ALBANY — The Darton baseball team completed the first step in the what would be a long road to the Junior College World Series.

After losing a heartbreaker to Walters (Tenn.) State on Wednesday, the Cavaliers bounced back with a 12-1 six-inning victory over South Georgia State Thursday in the East Central District Tournament at Darton.

The win means that Darton will get a rematch with Walters State today at noon after the Senators dropped a 17-3 decision to Dyersburg State in Thursday’s other game. Darton’s victory over South Georgia eliminated the Hawks from the tournament.

The Cavaliers, who were the visiting team after losing a coin toss, blew the game open in the first inning. Leadoff hitter Kendall Herron started with a double off the wall. It was one of Herron’s two hits in the opening inning.

Darton used five straight singles from its four through eight hitters to build a 6-0 lead after the top of the first.

“This offense showed what they can do,” Darton coach Scot Hemmings said. “The first inning we were really locked in. I’m proud of them. They bounced back when they could have just rolled over.”

The Cavaliers added a run in the third before the offense exploded again in the sixth. The big blow in the sixth inning came when Denzell Gowdy hit a bases-loaded double that scored all three runners.

John Cable followed with a triple to the right field corner that scored Gowdy.

Darton’s Sam Goberdhan started the game and went all six innings. He gave up just three hits and struck out four. The lone blemish came in the third inning when South Georgia’s Jared Crews hit a solo homer.

“You don’t really have to worry about giving up anything,” Darton starter Sam Goberdhan said. “You can just go out and pound the strike zone. I was hitting the strike zone a little too much. That’s why I gave up that nuke.”

Goberdhan’s victory means that everyone besides him and Wednesday’s starter Jeremy Beasley will be available Friday.

“I knew that I had to come out and give my team a chance,” Goberdhan said. “It is going to be hard to get back in this thing really. This is a good way to start it off. I just had to give a good performance.”

Hemmings said that Taylor Ferringer will start the first game on Friday. If the Cavaliers win, Hemmings said Rabon Martin will start the second game.

Cable went 2 for 4 with two RBIs, while Landon Crowder went 3 for 4 with two RBIs.