The Tigers rode down to Kingsland on Friday carrying an undefeated Region 3-AAAAA record Friday, but the Camden County Wildcats were not about to let Bradwell Institute go home unscathed.
Camden beat the Tigers, 16-6, tying the Tigers for second place in the region. Both squads are 4-1 behind first-place Jenkins.
Tigers coach Rhett Hellgren said his team did well at the plate and was not overpowered by the Wildcats’ pitching, but added his team made errors and struggled on the mound.
“Jacob Dill started off slow, and I probably left him in too long,” Hellgren said. “He threw 49 pitches in the first inning, and I just thought I would let him pitch and give him a shot of getting out of the inning, and it didn’t work out the way I planned.”
The coach said his team never gave up and played with character, something he said will benefit them going into Tuesday’s away game against Jenkins.
“Jenkins is huge, and we are hoping to build off today,” Hellgren said Saturday afternoon while preparing for a non-region game at home against Charlton County. “We need to get back to our good defense and good pitching. We hope we can carry that over to Tuesday.”
Overall, the Tigers are 5-3, the Wildcats are 7-2 and Jenkins is 7-3 and 6-0 in 3-AAAAA.
Hellgren said Tiger Mitch Rogers likely will get the nod to open against Jenkins. It will be his second varsity start of the season.
Hellgren said the team is looking forward and will put the loss behind them but added that he warned his players to step up their game.
“We didn’t play up to our standard,” he said. “And when that happens, it’s going to be tough to win.”
Dill went 1 for 3 with two RBIs. Eric Wells went 1 for 3.
Dill, Wells, Leonard Felton, Cody Hill, Alton Malpass and Josh Driggers each scored a run.