Alpharetta Rallies to Win Over Duluth 6-3 in Baseball Playoffs

The Alpharetta Raiders scored four runs in the bottom of the sixth inning to rally for a 6-3 victory Thursday, May 12,  over the Duluth Wildctats and advance to the quarterfinals of the state Class AAAAA baseball playoffs.

The Raiders, who have won their first two playoff series at home and will again be at home in the quarterfinals, trailed 3-2 before Kenneth Reynolds unloaded a home run over the fence in right-center with a runner on base to put Alpharetta ahead for good. 

Duluth starter Chris Rich had limited the Raiders to three hits and two runs over the first five innings, but failed to retire any of the four batters he faced in the sixth. He started the inning with just his second walk of the game, and hit the next batter after yielding Reynolds’ homer.

Cameron Stadele ripped a double down the third base line to make it 5-3, and scored the game’s final run when Harrison Hunter doubled against reliever Zack Erwin. 

Alpharetta starter Taylor Hall collected his second playoff win, working six solid innings. The Raiders’ lefthander allowed seven hits, but issued only one walk and got some clutch outs with men in scoring position after the Wildcats scored their three runs.

“Taylor did a great job,” Alpharetta coach Steve Bohn said. “Our pitching has been pretty good all year.”

The Wildcats made the playoffs for the first time since 1997 and won their opening series, with coach Matt Champitto declaring the season “definitely successful. But I’m pretty disappointed we didn’t score more than we did. We had nine hits and hit some balls hard that bounced off the fence.”

Alpharetta (18-12) scored first without a hit in the second inning, with Duluth (20-12) tying the game in the third on David Matton’s RBI-double off the fence in left-center. Alex Raffensperger doubled off the fence to lead off the fourth for the Wildcats, with John Clark driving him in with a double to put Duluth ahead.

Reynolds lined a double to right-center to lead off the Alpharetta fourth and advanced to third on Stadele’s sharp single to left. Dimitri Kourtis tied the game with his second sacrifice fly, with Duluth right fielder Edward Willemse making an excellent leaping catch.

Stadele and Reynolds had two hits each, with Reynolds and Kourtis both driving in two runs. 

Consecutive two-out singles in the sixth by Noah Hoback, Jacob Timmie and Willemse put the Wildcats back on top, but Hall got the final out of the inning with two runners on base to keep the Raiders close.  

The Wildcats threatened in the seventh with hits by Evan Dumas and Raffensperger, but Alpharetta closer Cody Carpenter struck out the other three batters he faced in the inning to record the save.

Alpharetta has reached the state playoffs four times in the past six years, but this is the furthest the team has advanced. The Raiders will host Colquitt County, the winner of a series with East Coweta. Those two teams also split their opening doubleheader. Region 1-AAAAA champion Colquitt County won the third game 12-6 to advance along with the Raiders.

“We’ve got a lot of experience,” Bohn said. “Our first goal was to win the region and then to advance in the playoffs.”

The Raiders have achieved both, but are very capable of advancing beyond the quarterfinals thanks to quality pitching and a timely display of power hitting in the post-season.

The quarterfinal series is scheduled to begin on Tuesday.