The Long County Blue Tide baseball game went into their regular season finale on Thursday needing a win over Calvary Day to all but lock up a home game in the first round of the state playoffs.
Early errors in the game cost the Tide as they fell to the Cavaliers 5-2. Calvary, ranked No. 3 in the state, beat the Tide on Tuesday to clinch the Region 3-AAA championship.
With runners on first and third and two out in the second inning, what seemed to be a routine play for the final out at first base turned into a costly error as the throw as dropped and the Cavaliers took a 1-0 lead.
The Tide had runners in scoring position in the first, third and fourth innings but could not take advantage. Another Tide miscue in the fourth with two on and two out gave the Cavs a 2-0 lead.
The Cavs used three hits, a hit batter and a walk to double the lead to 4-0 in the fifth.
Anthony Bramwell’s infield single to third base with the bases loaded brought in two runs for the Tide in the bottom of the inning.
A Cavs double in the sixth helped extend their lead to 5-2, and the Cavs pulled off a trick play in the bottom of the sixth to get an out on another runner in scoring position.
The Tide got singles from Roderick Randall, Shannon Filkins and Kenny Pickens to load the bases with one out. Calvary, though, turned a double play on Bramwell’s grounder to end the game.
With the loss, the Tide fall to 14-9 and 4-4 in the region. This sets up for a possible chaotic ending to the regular season.
Savannah Christian and Savannah Country Day play each other today in the second of their two-game series. If Savannah Christian wins, the Tide will lock up the three seed in the region and the state playoffs.
If Savannah Country Day wins, all three teams would be tied for the second seed.
In the latter scenario, it would come down to tiebreakers to work out the region standings, still giving the Tide a slight, yet nearly miniscule, chance to host their first home playoff game since 2003.
The state playoffs begin on April 23.