CAIRO — For half of Cairo’s Friday matchup against region foe Northside-Columbus, it seemed like Syrupmaker starting pitcher Emerson Hancock had met his match.

He and opposing pitcher Colton Joyner were engaged in a battle, with each team only being able to scrap together a single hit through four innings. However, Cairo’s batters broke through for three runs in the fifth, and its ace did the rest, leading the Syrupmakers to a 3-0 win over the Patriots.

The victory gives Cairo a much-needed positioning advantage over Northside in subdivided Region 1-4A.

“Winning tonight’s big,” Cairo assistant head coach Chris Wheaton said. “That sets us up real well to hopefully win the region championship.”

Joyner mowed through the Syrupmaker lineup for the first two innings, not allowing a single baserunner until Austin Shattles hit a liner to third base with one out in the third. Hancock kept the opposition at bay while his team figured out how to get a lead.

In the fifth, Cairo’s patience finally paid off. DJ Collins got the Syrupmakers started with a leadoff double to left-center. After Seth Cooper was hit by a pitch, Shattles added his second knock of the day to bring Collins in, giving Cairo the first run of the day. 

Drew Leverette added some insurance, bringing Shattles and Cooper in with a two-out, two-RBI base hit for the 3-0 lead.

“We started out slow hitting, but I wasn’t too worried,” Wheaton said. “We were taking good swings. We had good at-bats. I knew that once we got two or three times around that we’d come through with the hits.”

Hancock finished the job in the Patriots’ last six at-bats, securing a complete-game shutout win. Earlier in the game, his pitch count temporarily entered an uncomfortable range, much of that coming from an 10-plus pitch at-bat against Northside’s Seth Shadix. However, he was able to get through some quick innings later on to even things out. 

The Georgia commit finished his afternoon with 12 strikeouts, allowing only two hits and no walks.

“He goes out there and gives you the absolute best he has every single night he pitches,” Wheaton said. “He’s really good at mixing up his pitches and keeping hitters off balance, and not just relying on his fastball to get it by everybody.”

The Syrupmakers will play a doubleheader against Pelham at home beginning at noon today, before heading to Thomasville on Tuesday to play Thomas County Central.