Jackson Alford was one of four Walton players, and eight Cobb County players overall, chosen by the Georgia Dugout Club to compete in Saturday’s all-state games at Mercer.
Lassiter's Trey Griffin pitched a complete game in Game 2 of the Class AAAAAA state semifinal series against Allatoona on Saturday.
Anthony Stalcup, file
Jackson Alford was one of four Walton players, and eight Cobb County players overall, chosen by the Georgia Dugout Club to compete in Saturday’s all-state games at Mercer.
Special - Anthony Stalcup
Walton's Nick Cubides gets a hit in Tuesday's playoff game against Etowah.
Eight players from Cobb County were selected to participate in the Georgia Dugout Club’s all-state games Saturday at Mercer’s Claude Smith Field in Macon.
Four rosters of 24 players each were selected to compete in this year’s games. Representing Cobb will be Mount Paran Christian’s Alex Adams, Pope’s Dawson Campbell, Harrison’s Jack Fleming, Lassiter’s Trey Griffin and Walton teammates Jackson Alford, Nicholas Cubides, Barrett Eldridge and Jared Jones.
There will be four games on the schedule. The Cobb players will play at 9 a.m. and 5:30 p.m. as part of the Northwest team with players primarily from Cherokee and Fulton counties.
The coaches for the Northwest team are McEachern’s Karlton Schilling, Cherokee’s Josh Thomas and River Ridge’s Jeff Runion.
“I think the kids will enjoy it,” Walton coach Shane Amos said. “The format is two games, kids go down and showcase their talent.”
In addition to the games, there will be a presentation of awards and honorary achievements.
Adams was a key part of Mount Paran’s run to the Class A Private semifinals, while Campbell helped Pope end the season with the Class AAAAAA state title. Fleming earned first-team honors from Region 3AAAAAAA, and Griffin helped Lassiter reach the Class AAAAAA state semifinals.
Alford, Cubides, Eldridge and Jones were the top four hitters in Walton’s lineup during the regular season. Amos said all four had great years, which showed an extra amount of focus, considering the team’s playing situation.
“The biggest thing that a lot of people didn’t realize, you know, we didn’t have a home field this year,” Amos said. “Our guys played 35 road games, and I was really tremendously proud of the way they didn’t make excuses.”
All four brought different things to the field. Alford played a strong second base and stole 25 bases, Cubides hit .390, Eldridge turned into a power hitter by connecting for six home runs and Jones finished his career as a .400 hitter after hitting nearly .500 this season.
“Jared was our catalyst,” Amos said. “He has an enormous amount of power. The ball comes off his bat at well over 100 mph bat speeds.”
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