The Long County High School baseball team’s five-game winning streak came to an end Thursday at the hands of Brantley County. The 4-3 loss to the Herons secured a play-off spot for the Brantley team but eliminated the Blue Tide.

"It was a very heartbreaking loss," Long County head coach Brian Thomas said. "We played very well and just came up a bit short."

"I believe that we are improving with each game and we will play with a lot of toughness over the last three games, even though we cannot make the playoffs," the coach said.

On Monday, the Blue Tide lost another game, 6-0, to powerhouse Jeff Davis High School. With the two losses, the Tide’s overall record dropped to 12-12.

Despite the defeats, Long County improved during the second half of the season and proved they can play with any team in the area.

Yesterday, the Tide took on Tattnall County in Ludowici, but results were not available at press time. Tomorrow, the Ludowici team travels to McIntosh County for its final game of the season.

McIntosh, like Long, has been eliminated from the playoffs; they too are playing for pride. When the clubs met earlier this year, the game came down to the wire, but the Blue Tide eventually defeated the Bucs, 4-3, in extra innings.

McIntosh brings an overall record of 11-13 into the game, compared with Long’s 12-12 mark. The teams are evenly matched in most areas; both are averaging 6 runs a game and giving up 5 runs a night.

One thing is for sure: Bucs head coach Mike Simmons will have his team ready to play and so will Thomas. The game in Darien starts at 7 p.m.

Results from the Tattnall County and McIntosh games will be in Friday’s Courier.