LAGRANGE - The North Hall Trojans are moving on.
The Trojans pushed a run across in the top of the seventh inning to tie it, and thanks in large part to a grand slam by Andrew Smith, they exploded for seven runs in the ninth en route to a 10-3 victory over the LaGrange Grangers in the third and deciding game of their Class AAA first-round playoff series.
North Hall advances to the second round where it will visit Cartersville, which beat Arabia Mountain in the opening round.
"It was a lot of fun," North Hall head coach Trent Mongero said of Saturday's game. "You couldn't ask for a better game as a fan I guess. It gave me a few extra gray hairs."
The Grangers scored on a Caleb Williams RBI single in the bottom of the fifth to take a 3-2 lead, and it remained that way until the Trojans managed to push across the tying run in the seventh.
Preston Graham got things started with a walk, and Smith moved him over with a sacrifice bunt. Whit Bowen then delivered an RBI single to bring in Graham with the tying run.
It stayed a 3-3 game until the Trojans broke it open in the ninth.
Bowen walked and moved to second on a balk, and Chris Stevens broke the tie with an RBI single past the diving first baseman.
Griffin Olson added a run-scoring single later in the inning, and Eli Gilmer walked with the bases loaded to bring in another run.
After a pitching change, Smith put the game on ice with his grand slam, setting off a raucous celebration at home plate.
In the bottom of the inning, Stevens finished the Grangers off to secure the victory.
Stevens, who got the complete-game victory in Game 1, pitched three scoreless innings to get the win.
Jared Oliver started and pitched six solid innings before turning the game over to Stevens.
Mongero said he was confident Stevens had enough left in the tank to get the job done.
"He's a five-year player in our program, and a guy that I know very well," Mongero said. "I'd been communicating with him and I felt confident that if had he had any tenderness or soreness that he would have told me. So we kept asking him, and he said I'm 100 percent."
For LaGrange, Clancy Alford started and pitched into the eighth inning, giving up four hits and three runs.
"He gave us more than we expected," LaGrange coach Donnie Branch said. "It was better than what we really should have needed today. You can't ask for a better performance in a Game 3 on the mound."
North Hall struck first, scoring a run in the first on an RBI groundout by Hamilton Harper that brought in Jesse Strickland, who singled.
LaGrange tied it on a Zak Murphy RBI single in the first, and the Trojans reclaimed the lead in the second on a Bowen RBI double.
The Grangers pulled even on a Matt Edwards sacrifice fly in the fourth, and they took the lead on Williams' two-out single in the fifth.
The Trojans went down in order in the sixth against Alford before breaking through in the seventh and winning it in the ninth.
"This has been a very special season," Mongero said. "No one counted us in the mix in our own region even. The guys have really come together and played good ball."