Georgia vs. Tennessee, 2007 Dixie Boys Baseball World Series- Day 3

After winning a close ball game over Alabama on opening night, Georgia fell on the other side of a nailbiter Sunday night against Mississippi.

Now it's win or go home at the Dixie Boys Baseball World Series.

Georgia has wasted no time putting a runner in scoring position. The Columbia County All-Stars are the visiting team, and Jake Sandlin now stands at second after a single and stole base. Both Kody Belcher and Glenn Cassedy have struck out, so we've got a runner at second with two outs.

Sandlin stole third base, but cleanup man Brian Smith grounded out to short to end the inning.

Bottom of the first: Georgia 0, Tennessee 0

Kody Belcher is the starting pitcher for Georgia. Does the name sound familiar? He's the cousin of Greenbrier ace Nolan Belcher. Kody, a right-hander, doesn't quite have the same quality curveball that Nolan does, but neither do you.

Kody Belcher's curve just nicked the face mask of Tennessee batter Ryne Fisher. There goes the perfect game. He's still got the no-hitter thanks to a strike out and a ground out.

Tennessee put runners at the corners thanks to a wild pitch, a stolen base and a walk. Georgia head coach John Sandlin had to make a quick trip to the mound to calm down his young pitcher, but it wasn't Belcher's fault when his defense gave up a run. Tennessee's Barker Burnham, on first, intentionally got himself in a rundown between first and second. Belcher fired to second baseman Glenn Cassedy just as Tennessee runer Ryne Fisher, on third base, broke for home. Cassedy threw a bullet to the plate, but it sailed well over the head of catcher Stephen Crawford. The error gave Tennessee a 1-0 lead and, after Belcher drilled Cory Jerrolds in the head, Tennessee has runners at first and second with two outs. 

Georgia shortstop Jake Sandlin just went deep in the hole to keep a ball in the infield. Give Tennessee batter Harrison Johnson credit for an infield hit, but Sandlin gets the nod for keeping at least one more run from scoring.

Steven Rich flew out to right field and the bases are left loaded. Tennessee only got one run out of the deal. That's huge for Georgia. They probably should be down by much more.

Top of the second: Tennessee 1, Georgia 0

In the only winners' bracket game of the day, Mississippi is simply pounding North Carolina 9-0 in the first inning. I'd put Mississippi as the favorite to win this World Series at this point. They've scored 26 runs in 15 innings.

Georgia's Taylor Camp walked to start the inning and went to second on a passed ball. Stephen Crawford struck out, and Camp advanced to third on a sacrifice grounder to the right side of the infield by John-Michael Zumbro. There's two outs, but Georgia is a base hit away from a tied game.

Tennessee pitcher Ryne Fisher snuck a fastball on the inside corner to strike out Michael Taylor and leave Camp at third base. That's one offensive opportunity missed for each team so far.

Bottom of the second: Tennessee 1, Georgia 0

Give the award for loudest fans to Tennessee. Apparently they think they're at a fastpitch softball game because the synchronized chants and cheers are out in full force. 

After giving up a walk and a hit to start the inning, Belcher is out and reliever Glenn Cassedy is on the mound for Georgia. Runners are at the corners with no outs.

Good pitching change by Georgia Coach John Sandlin. Cassedy struck out two batters and got another to pop out to end the inning with runners on second and third. Tennessee still has a one run lead, but five runners left on base after two innings is not a good sign for them.

Top of the third: Tennessee 1, Georgia 0

That's it. The Tennessee cheers are officially annoying. I'm not usually one to bash team spirit, but there's a fine line between positive cheering and noise pollution. Perhaps its the Volunteer orange pom poms and jump suits. Maybe it's the fact that they have a cheer for every baseball situation imaginable (they had one for a double play with one out). Either way, the repeated chant of "two strikes, one to go" isn't helping anyone. And all the players know that "you've got to want it, to win it, and we want it bad." There's no need to remind us.

All the chatter is apparently irritating Tennessee. Three errors in the inning has allowed Georgia to take a 2-1 lead. Kody Belcher reached on an error then went all the way to third on a botched pick off attempt. He scored on another error on a ground ball off the bat of Glenn Cassedy. Brian Smith came through on the next at bat with a pop up double. Cassedy, hustling around the bases with two outs, scored from first to take the lead. Smith stole a base and now stands at third with two outs.

The top of the inning is over after a fly out to left field, but not before the lead changed hands.

Bottom of the third: Georgia 2, Tennessee 1

Here are the other scores from the tournament:

Alabama 13, Aiken 2. Final.

Florida 11, Virginia 0. Final (in four and a half innings).

Mississippi leads North Carolina 12-1 in the second inning

Tennessee is threatening again, this time with back-to-back hits to lead off the inning by Barker Burnham and Cory Jerrolds. Harrison Johnson moved the runners over with a sacrifice grounder to the right side of the infield. A diving stop by Georgia first baseman Brian Smith kept the ball from getting the outfield.

After Georgia pitcher Jake Sandlin struck out Steven Rich for the second out of the inning, Sandlin threw a ball low in the dirt that got all the way to the backstop to score Burnham. A ground out ended the inning one batter later, but Tennessee has tied the game.

Also of note, the Tennessee boys have been encouraged by their fans to "get a little bit rowdy." They were even reminded how to spell it.

Top of the fourth: Georgia 2, Tennessee 2

Well, well. It looks like North Carolina has finally come to life. The champions from the Tar Heel state trailed Mississippi 12-1 in the second inning. It's still the second, and North Carolina has cut the lead to 12-6. They'll keep batting after a Mississippi relief pitcher finishes his warm up tosses.

John-Michael Zumbro led off the inning for Georgia with a walk. Pinch runner Justin Cofer stole second, and Michael Taylor drove him in with an RBI single to left field. Taylor took second base on the throw home, and he's now in the dugout with another run scored to his name after an RBI single by Kody Belcher.

These Georgia batters are wearing out the hole between first and second. Glenn Cassedy just poked another hit through the infield to score Belcher. There's two outs now, and Cassedy has stolen second to put him in scoring position for Brian Smith.

Smith struck out, but Georgia has reclaimed the lead.

Bottom of the fourth: Georgia 5, Tennessee 2

I've got to hand it to the Tennessee fans. They certainly haven't quieted down even though their team lost the lead. The chat of the minute goes something like "stand up for Tennessee- everybody stand up." (Repeat 20x).

The winner of this game will advance to face Florida on Tuesday at 8 p.m.

Tennessee wants to be that winner. Two walks and a single put runners at the corners with one out after catcher Stephen Crawford gunned down a runner at second base. Tennessee's Ryne Fisher hit a slow grounder, and Georgia went for the double play. They got the runner at second, but Fisher was safe at first and picked up an RBI as teammate Coty Eanes crossed the plate.

Top of the fifth: Georgia 5, Tennessee 3

Back to back singles by Stephen Crawford and Justin Cofer and an error by the left-fielder put runners at second and third with one out for Georgia. The Columbia County boys squandered the chance with a strike out and a ground out that stranded both runners.

Bottom of the fifth: Georgia 5, Tennessee 3 

Mississippi still leads North Carolina 12-6. They're now in the fourth inning, and Mississippi has runners on second and third with one out.

Georgia's Cade Hardin is now on to pitch. He relieved Jake Sandlin who allowed two runs on two hits and struck out three batters in three innings of work.

Tennessee got a lead off single from Cory Jerrolds, but that was it.

Top of the sixth: Georgia 5, Tennessee 3

Both of the 8 p.m. games tonight are crawling along at a snail's pace compared to previous nights. I'm seeing more pitchers step off the mound just after coming set and batters calling time in the box before a pitcher delivers. The pressure is on, and these kids can feel it.

For the second time tonight, Kody Belcher has advanced to second on a botched pick-off attempt. He just took third on a wild pitch. He's fast, the pitcher knows it, and that's causing trouble for Tennessee.

Jake Sandlin is now 2-for-4 on the night after his single to left field plated Belcher. Georgia has a little more breathing room with the extra run scored. I'm sure they'd like to add a few more.

Tennessee's centerfielder helped Georgia out by letting a ball get by him. Sandlin is at third, Glenn Cassedy is at second, and Tennessee coach Wes Boutrie is at the mound talking to his entire infield.

Georgia's Brian Smith nearly hit it out of the park on the first pitch he saw. Instead, he'll settle for a double off the fence in left field. Two runs came in to score, and Tennessee starter Ryne Fisher has been pulled.

Cory Jerrolds will come in to pitch for Tennessee. Fisher's finished with five innings pitched, seven strike outs, nine hits and eight runs with one more on base. Georgia leads 8-3 and appears headed for a date with Florida on Tuesday.

It's a wild one on the other diamond. Mississippi still leads, but North Carolina scored again. It's 15-7 with a runner at third for North Carolina and one out in the fourth inning.

Tennessee reliever Cory Jerrolds didn't give up a hit the rest of the inning, but one more run still scored. Pinch runner Hunter Hamilton came in on a wild pitch for a four-run sixth inning.

Bottom of the sixth: Georgia 9, Tennessee 3

In the Mississippi/North Carolina game, the inning is over with Mississippi on top 15-8. They're going into the fifth inning.

Tennessee went down 1-2-3 in the sixth with two strike outs from Georgia pitcher Cade Hardin. The Columbia County boys are three outs away from advancing to day four.

Top of the seventh: Georgia 9, Tennessee 3

Add another insurance run to Georgia's total. Cade Hardin reached base on a walk, and he trotted home after Jake Sandlin launched a double to the gap in left-centerfield. Runners are at the corners with two outs.

Georgia loaded the bases before a fly out to centerfield ended the inning. Even though they stranded three runners, you won't hear one complaint from the Columbia County fans. Their team has a seven run cushion with three outs to go.

Bottom of the seventh: Georgia 10, Tennessee 3

Brian Smith will close this one out on the mound for Georgia. He'll take over for Cade Hardin who threw two strong innings of scoreless, one-hit ball.

Mississippi leads North Carolina 17-8 in the bottom of the fifth.

Smith couldn't wrap up the game on the mound. He walked the bases loaded with one out, struck out Steven Rich, then gave up a two-RBI single to J.D. Clausel. Stephen Gobble followed with an RBI single, and that was all for Smith.

Georgia still leads 10-6 with Michael Taylor now warming up.

Taylor walked Coty Eanes to load the bases. Hold everything- the potential tying run is at the plate.

With a 2-2 count, Taylor got Hunter Petty looking on an outside curve to end the game.

Final score: Georgia 10, Tennessee 6

More live blogging from the 2007 Dixie Boys Baseball World Series at Citizens Park in Aiken begins Tuesday at 8 p.m. as Georgia takes on Florida.