Long County High School lost to the Jeff Davis baseball team, 9-1, Friday in Hazlehurst.
 The Blue Tide’s overall record fell to 5-10 and their region record fell to 1-7.  With the win, the Yellow Jackets improved to 12-5 and 7-2 in Region 2-AA.
Pitcher Luke Golden got the loss for the Blue Tide. Long’s leading hitters were Shawn Mills and Austin Middleton, who both were 2 for 3 at the plate. Mills also had the Tide’s only RBI.
“Jeff Davis is a very good team,” Blue Tide coach Brian Thomas said. “They do not have many weaknesses and they hit the ball exceptionally well. I felt like they were the better team tonight, and we just lost. We played a good game overall, it just wasn’t enough.”
The loss was Long County’s third in a row, even though the team appears capable of holding their own against many of the good teams in the region. Thomas said the proverbial bad innings have put several games just out of reach.
“We have been fighting to stay out of the big inning all season,” the coach said, “but it seems like we have a hard time avoiding it. I think that having a young team can be one reason that we are giving up big innings, but it’s not for any lack of effort by these players. It’s just a learning process that they will be better for in the future.”
On Tuesday, the Blue Tide played at home, facing another team playing good ball, Tattnall County. The Battle Creek Warriors went into the game with a 9-6 overall record and a 3-6 region mark. Earlier in the week, the Warriors pulled off a major upset, defeating the No. 2 team in the state, Pierce County, 14-6.
The Blue Tide will play the Bears Friday. Pierce County comes into that game with a 12-3 overall mark and a 6-2 region record. GaPrepCountry.com/GACA Coaches Poll ranked the Bears No. 2 last week. Friday’s game is in Blackshear with the first pitch scheduled for 6 p.m.
A story on the Tattnall County game will be in Friday’s Courier. The results from Pierce County game will be in Sunday’s paper.