SPRING GARDEN – Just call the Sand Rock baseball team the comeback cats.

The road to Saturday’s Cherokee County Baseball Tournament championship at Spring Garden wasn’t an easy one for the Wildcats. They had to overcome a six-run deficit to defeat Spring Garden in the opening round.

Sand Rock then climbed a four-run hill to defeat Gaylesville in the tournament semifinals, and erased a four-run deficit against Cherokee County to claim a 9-4 victory in the tournament championship game.

“It’s not scripted that we get down 4-0, but our guys just don’t give up,” Sand Rock coach Eddy Norris said. “It’s a tribute to them because we’ve come back so many times in the past two or three years at various levels. They never quit, and that means a lot.

“Fortunately, we were able to come back and win those games (Saturday), but we don’t want to make a practice of getting behind early.”

The county championship is the first for the Wildcats (7-2) since 2003. The victory by Sand Rock also prevented the Warriors from claiming their fourth county crown under head coach Jim Garmany.

“What they did differently than we did was they rolled the baseball when they had to,” Garmany said. “That made us kick the ball around. Good things happen when you roll the baseball. You give yourself a chance, and that’s what they did. They’re a good hitting ball club. I think they started out a little slow, but Coach Norris does a great job with those hitters over there and they’re going to hit.”

The Warriors (6-4) jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first inning, thanks to a two-run double by Caleb Whorton that plated Keon Rucker and Kaleb Kines. Cherokee County tacked on another pair of runs in the second for a 4-0 advantage on Rucker’s single that plated Tyler Stubbs. The Warriors other run in the inning came on a Kines’ groundout to short that plated Brett Burgess, who reached base on a double.

Sand Rock finally got on the scoreboard in the third on a Justin Mackey groundout that plated Shane Wells. Wells reached earlier in the inning on a single.

The Wildcats then erupted for six runs in the fifth by sending 10 batters to the plate. Sand Rock was aided in the inning by three Warrior errors that allowed four runs to score.

The big play of the inning was Brannon Burt’s squeeze bunt that plated a pair of Wildcat runs.

Sand Rock tacked on two more runs in the sixth. Dex Clanton doubled with one out in the inning and scored on Jake Thompson’s groundout to third. Mackey then stepped to the plate and homered to right center, giving the Wildcats a 9-4 lead.

Mackey led Sand Rock at the plate with a pair of hits and three RBI. He also picked up the win by going the distance with 12 strikeouts.

“Coach Norris has always told us not to give up,” Mackey said. “We always have to deal with failure, but we’ve just got to come back and keep our heads in the game. After we got ahead, I told our guys I would shut them down. I told them to get on my back and I’d carry them.”

Matt Hincy suffered the loss for the Warriors. In four innings, he gave up five hits with three walks and six strikeouts.

Shane Wells went 2-for-4 with two runs for the Wildcats. Dylan Langley was 2-for-4 with a double and a run.

Cherokee County had one last chance in the seventh by loading the bases with two out, but Mackey got Cole Sterling to strike out to end the game.

Rucker and Whorton led the Warriors at the plate. Both had a pair of hits. Brett Burgess went 1-for-4 and Coty Blanchard was 1-for-1 with a walk.

But the night belonged to Sand Rock.

“County championships are important to us,” Norris said. “They’re something you can savor for a lifetime. It’s something we put a lot of emphasis on.”

Sand Rock 19, Gaylesville 4 – In the Cherokee County Tournament semifinals on Saturday, Gaylesville jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the top of the first inning, but Sand Rock rallied for the win.

The Wildcats scored two runs in their half of the first. They tied the game at 4-4 with a pair of runs in the second and took the lead for good with three runs in the third. Sand Rock erupted for 12 runs in the fourth for the final.

Justin Mackey led the charge at the plate. He went 2-for-3 with a walk and five RBI. Drew Norris was 2-for-3 with a double and three RBI. Justin Kyser went 2-for-2 with a double, a triple and a RBI. Dylan Langley was 1-for-2 with a double and three RBI. Brannon Burt went 1-for-3 with a double and a RBI. Matt Graham added a hit and Shane Wells had a RBI.

Dex Clanton claimed the win for the Wildcats after going four innings. He gave up four hits and struck out five Trojans.

Cain Higgins suffered the loss for the Trojans (1-5). He was also 1-for-3 at the plate with a two-run homer in the first. Andrew Lindsey added a two-RBI double for Gaylesville.

Junior High County Tournament Championship

Cherokee County 18, Spring Garden 0 (4 innings)

SPRING GARDEN – Chris Spinks went 3-for-4 with three RBI and scored two runs to lead Cherokee County to the Junior High Tournament title on Saturday.

Kolby Brannon and Logan Pierce both went 2-for-3, with Brannon scoring four runs and Pierce driving in four runs. Pierce also captured the win on the mound, giving up just one hit with a strikeout.

Kaleb Clark was 2-for-2 and scored two runs. Josh Higgins added a double and two RBI. Zach Bedwell had a double, two RBI and scored two runs. Hunter Young tallied a hit with a RBI and scored three runs. Lucas Whitmire, Wade Griffith, Eric Burgess and Tyler Sterling each contributed a hit.

Will Ivey had a double for Spring Garden.

Spring Garden 20, Gaylesville 10 – In the Cherokee County Junior High semifinals on Saturday, Spring Garden jumped out to a 13-0 lead in the fourth inning and held off the Trojans to advance to the tournament championship.

Will Penton led the Panthers at the plate by going 3-for-4 and scoring three runs. Hunter Jolly was 3-for-5 with three runs and Jake Grogan went 3-for-3 with two runs. Grant Benefield was 2-for-6 with three runs. Will Westbrook went 1-for-3 with two runs. Leevi Maddox added a hit, a walk and scored two runs.

Grant Benefield picked up the win after going three innings, allowing no hits with six strikeouts.