Cain Cooper's blast tied Friday's contest at 1-1.

CHULA – Piedmont Academy defeated Tiftarea Academy 11-4 to wrap the Panthers’ regular season in a contest that saw nearly everyone on both rosters play.

With no bearing on the upcoming GISA state Class AAA playoffs, Tiftarea head coach Chance Benson used six pitchers and sent 14 different men to the plate. The Cougars batted 13 different players.

Piedmont scored seven runs during the last four innings of the game after the sides battled to even terms for the first three frames. The schools matched each other blow-for-blow early on; both scored a single run in the second and added three more in the third. Even how they scored was similar.

Leadoff hitter Chase Porter served a Jayk Sailer pitch over the left field fence to give the Cougars a 1-0 lead in the second. Cain Cooper was the first man up in the bottom of the second and he promptly sent Sam Wright’s offering over the left field fence.

Rob Allgood smacked a three-run homer for Piedmont in the third. Tiftarea re-tied the score courtesy of five straight hits, wit Will Matt, Hunter Hartsfield and Cooper driving in Hayden Murphy, Colby Grant and Matt, respectively.

Piedmont went ahead to stay in a five-run fourth inning. The big blow was a double by Wright that brought in two runs. Allgood and Zach Spivey drove in runs during the fifth as well. Single runs crossed in the fifth and sixth, one on an Allgood sacrifice fly, the other on a double by Owen Brady.

Sailer threw two innings. After he departed, Benson went with one pitcher per inning, a plan that allowed Bret Bernard, McRay Lentz, Matt, Murphy and Grant to all see time on the mound. Remarkably, each recorded at least one strikeout.

The Cougars used four pitchers, Porter seeing the majority of action. He earned the win.

Cooper and Matt each had two hits for Tiftarea, with Cooper driving in two runs.