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Blue Tide baseball continues to win
Three game wrap-up
0206 Blue Tide logo

Blue Tide Top Pirates in 11

The Long County Blue Tide made the most of a Tuesday night trip to Brunswick, toppling the Brunswick High Pirates 4-3 in 11 innings. It was the 5th win in a row for the Tide baseball team since suffering their only loss of the season to Gilmer county back on February 22nd. As usual, and as in any extra inning game, things didn’t come easy for the Tide, and it took another late inning rally to get the job done.

The Pirates drew first blood in the first on an RBI ground out by Kyle Lodise, scoring Pirate catcher Devonte Gadson who led the inning off with a triple. The Pirates scored another single run in the bottom of the 3rd on 4 walks, including a walk drawn by Mitchell Richburg with the bases loaded and a pick off at 2nd, allowing a runner from 3rd to score.

The Tide found themselves in a familiar position as of late, down in the early innings. But again, the Tide would not go down without a fight. Both teams were held scoreless for the next 3 innings, and the Pirates carried a seemingly comfortable 3-0 into the top of the 7th.

But the 7th inning Blue Tide magic made another appearance in Brunswick. With 1 out, Tide short stop Ethan Wells singled to give Long County a glimmer of hope. Wells was followed by Joseph Cammack who was hit by a pitch. After a fly out to left, TJ Criswell walked to load the bases and the Blue Tide were in 2 out business.

Ethan Williams tied the game with one swing of the bat on a ringing triple to left, scoring all 3 Tide baserunners, their first 3 runs of the game. The game would stay that way as neither team gave much of a threat until the top of the 11th inning. Cammack and Trevor Ray started the inning with a single and a walk, respectively. After a strikeout, the baserunners advanced to 2nd and 3rd on a wild pitch, bringing Williams up again with a chance to do damage. A sacrifice fly would do the trick, and the Blue Tide took a 4-3 lead to the bottom of the 11th.

Williams closed the deal on the mound, despite a leadoff single from Gadson. Two fly outs and a pop up sealed the victory for the Blue Tide, who moved their record to 10-1 on the season, again in dramatic fashion.

Other than the 3rd inning when starting pitcher Luke Wells walked four batters, all three Tide pitchers were dominant throughout the whole game. TJ Criswell (5IP 0H 0R 6K) relieved Wells (3IP 1H 3R) and completely overwhelmed the Pirate batsmen. Williams (3IP 1H 0R) pitched the last 3 innings and was equally efficient. The Gadson triple in the 1st and his leadoff single in the 11th were the only 2 hits managed by the Pirates.

Backing up the pitching, the Tide defense played errorless ball while making some not so routine plays to keep the Pirates scoreless for 8 innings.

Tide roll past Charlton on the road

The Long County Blue Tide baseball team rolled into to what is normally not considered to be the friendly confines of Indian Field in Folkston Friday night, but left with more than friendly results, taking a 9-3 win. With the win, the Tide improved their season record to 11-1, and 2-0 versus Charlton County.

The Indians struck first in the bottom of the 2nd on RBI singles by T. Cribb and third baseman Geiger. In the inning the home team managed 3 of their 5 hits on the night to take an early 2-0 lead.

The Blue Tide have certainly been here before, down early and needing to respond. And they did just that. It didn’t take long as the Tide would answer right back with 6 runs in the top of the 3rd, which proved to be all they would need the rest of the way.

The inning started with a walk to Joseph Cammack, a single from Trevor Ray, and a walk to TJ Criswell. That set the Tide up for a potential big inning and they would make good on it. Ethan Williams followed with a single scoring Cammack. Allen Crystal reached on an error by second baseman C Bryant, scoring Criswell and Ray and giving the Tide a lead, they did not relinquish, 3-2.

After a walk to Luke Wells, Dewayne Rowe drove home Crystal and Williams, extending the lead to 5-2. An Ethan Wells ground out to 2nd with one out plated Luke Wells to round out the big inning with the Blue Tide on top 6-3.

In the top of the 5th, the Tide, just to be sure, added 3 more. Allen Crystal led off the inning with a triple off the base of the right field fence and was brought home on Luke Wells’ infield single. Wells stole 2nd, and advanced to 3rd and then home on back to back passed balls. With an 8-2 lead, Rowe and Ethan Wells both walked, and Rowe would come home on a double steal when the throw got away at 2nd base.

The Blue Tide carried the lead to the bottom of the 5th where the Indians scored their 3rd and final run on a sacrifice fly.

The Blue Tide once again played error less ball, and out hit the Indians 7-5. The Long County pitching staff continues to be a force for the Tide. Noah Kuhaneck got the start, throwing 3 innings, giving up 3 hits and 2 runs, all in the 2nd inning. He struck out 3 and walked 1. Trevor Ray (1.1IP, 1H, 1ER, 1K 2BB) relieved Kuhaneck and Ethan Williams (2.2IP 1H 0R 3K) finished out the game for Long County.

Offensively for the Blue Tide, Dewayne Rowe collected 2 hits with a run scored and 2 RBI. Crystal added a triple with 2 runs scored and an RBI. Williams, Luke Wells, and Ethan Wells each added an RBI in the winning effort.

Long County sweeps East Laurens

The Long County Blue Tide baseball team traveled to Dublin Saturday to face the East Laurens Falcons in a scheduled double header. It was a long road trip and a quick turnaround from the emotional last inning comeback win over Bradwell the night before, but the Tide would arrive in Dublin ready to play.

In game 1, the Falcons were able to dent the score board first, plating 2 runs in the bottom of the 2nd inning without the benefit of a walk or a hit. The home team was able to cash in on a couple of Blue Tide errors and a passed ball. That was all they would get, however, as the Tide defense and pitching shut down the Falcons the rest of the way.

Long County answered right back in the top of the 3rd. TJ Criswell led off with a single to left. After a passed ball and a ground out, Criswell came home from 3rd on another Falcon passed ball, cutting the lead in half, 2-1. Allen Crystal walked, Noah Kuhaneck singled, and Dewayne Rowe was hit by a pitch. Ethan Wells followed with a single to center scoring Crystal and Kuhaneck, giving the Tide a lead they would not relinquish, 3-2. They would add one more when Joseph Cammack was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded.

The Blue Tide added 2 more in the 4th on the strength of RBI singles from Kuhaneck and Rowe, and another in the 5th on an RBI double from Ethan Williams.

Leading 7-2, The Tide kept adding on, plating 4 more baserunners in the top of the 6th. Cammack drove in the 1st run of the inning on a fielder’s choice. Criswell sent two more home with a 2 RBI single to center, scoring Cole Moss and Trevor Ray. Two Falcon errors would lead to two more Tide runs to finish the scoring on the day as the Blue Tide walked away with a 13-2 win in 6 innings.

Ethan Williams (3IP, 3H, 0ER) started on the mound and once again pitched well for the Tide and was relieved by Criswell (2.2IP, 1H, 0ER) who also continued his great work on the season.

The Tide were led offensively by Noah Kuhaneck (3-4, 2RBI) Ethan Williams (3-5, 1RBI, 1 run scored) and TJ Criswell (2-5, 2 RBI, 2 runs scored.) Dewayne Rowe scored 2 runs and drove in one. Ethan wells had 1 hit and 2 RBI.

The task wasn’t as easy for the Tide in game 2. Noah Kuhaneck started the game, and deserved a much better fate, as his defense let him down with a season high 5 errors (in a span of 2 innings) on the night, allowing the Falcons to score 6 unearned runs.

Fortunately for the Tide, the Falcons were again in a giving mood themselves. After an error and a series of mental mistakes, Allen Crystal and Ethan Williams both scored on the same passed ball. And after an inning, it looked as though the Tide would cruise again in game 2 with a 2-0 lead.

Long County added another in the 3rd. Williams was hit by a pitch and stole 2nd and 3rd. A Crystal single to right scored Williams, giving the Blue Tide a 3-0 lead. That’s when things went bad, uncharacteristically, for the Tide. The Falcons used a single, a double, 3 Tide errors and a balk to tie the game at 3 after three innings. Unfortunately, the same verse was repeated the following inning.

The inning began with two more Tide errors, followed by a single and two walks, closing the 4th with a 6-3 lead. The Tide chipped away in the top of the 5th on an RBI single by Crystal, scoring Williams who had reached on yet another error by the Falcons, and another when Rowe scored on a passed ball.

The score remained 6-5 headed to the top of the 7th. But for the second time in as many days, the Tide had plans on a last at bat comeback.

Joseph Cammack led the inning off and was able to put the all-important leadoff batter on base with a long double to left. Criswell was then hit by a pitch, and Williams reached on an error to load the bases with nobody out. Allen Crystal then tied the game with an RBI single to tie the game at 6. Kuhaneck drove in the 7th and final run when he was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded.

The Falcons would go quietly in the bottom of the 7th, and the always resilient Long County baseball team escaped game 2 with a 7-6 victory.

On the day, the Blue Tide improved their season record to 9-1, with two more games to play before region play starts. In total, Tide pitchers gave up 0 earned runs on the day, allowing just 10 hits while striking out 17.

Allen Crystal paced the tide in game 2 going 3-4 with 2 RBI and a run scored.

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