The hometown fans in Ludowici had a lot to be happy about Friday as Long County beat Vidalia 6-3 in Region 2-AA baseball action.

With the win, the Blue Tide increased their lead to 1 ½ games over the Indians for the fourth spot in the region standings. 

Blue Tide starting pitcher Clay Strickland earned the win, going the full seven innings and giving up eight hits but no walks.

“We’re playing pretty well right now. The bats are waking up a bit. You can’t ask for a better time for that to happen,” Long County coach Tyler Rogers said.

The coach praised his entire team, saying that in many games, the Blue Tide have unsung heroes.

“We have a ton of guys who work hard day in and day out, but do not get the credit they deserve,” Rogers said. “We have had different guys playing different positions a lot this year, and there has been no problems … when a guy’s number is called, he steps in and does his job, with no questions asked. That is what makes this team special. They just want to win and will do anything to help the team.”

Long County improved its overall record to 10-12 and region mark to 6-5. As of Monday, the region standings had Benedictine Military School on top with an 11-0 mark (17-5 overall). Bacon County was second at 9-1 (17-3), and Jeff Davis was third at 9-3 (15-7).

With only a few region games left on the schedule, each one is crucial if Long County wants to hang on to that fourth spot and make the playoffs.

“We just have to take it one game at a time and take care of what we can control,” Rogers said.

On Tuesday, the Blue Tide were scheduled to host a region doubleheader against Groves. Results were unavailable at press time.

Today, Long County travels to Reidsville to face Tattnall County (13-8 as of Monday) in a non-region contest starting at 5:45. On Thursday, the Blue Tide wrap up their regular season by hosting Jeff Davis at 6 p.m.