Bradwell Institute handed Region 3-AAAAA leader Jenkins its first region loss with a 12-2 win in six innings Tuesday night in Hinesville.
 “It was the best feeling since I took over as head coach five years ago,” ecstatic Tigers coach Rhett Hellgren said. “We had no pop-ups and the kids really did a great job overall (with) the big three — pitching, defense and hitting. I have told the players that they had the ability to play like this — and they actually did.”
The Tigers jumped on the scoreboard first in the bottom of the first inning on hits from Eric Wells, Alton Malpass, Garrett McCorkle and Josh Driggers to go up, 2-0.
The Warriors answered in the top of the second inning with a run. Bradwell made the score 3-1 with a walk and stolen base from Chris Rafferty, who moved to third on a bunt from Mitch Rogers and scored on Leonard Felton’s single.
The Warriors got their second run in the top of the third.
The Tigers added three more runs in the bottom of the fourth — two coming from Jacob Dill’s double — to take a 6-2 lead.
Bradwell extended its lead to 11-2 in the fifth inning on a combination of walks and hits, including Felton’s two-run home run. The Tigers added a run in the sixth to seal the mercy-rule win.
Mitch Rogers got his second varsity start for Bradwell and tossed 2 2/3 innings. He faced 16 Jenkins batters and allowed two runs, two walks and six hits. With the Warriors facing two outs in the third, they loaded the bases and Rogers was relieved by Dill, who struck out the next batter to end the inning.
Dill went on to pitch 3 1/3 innings and picked up the win. He faced 14 Jenkins batters, gave up two hits and walked two.
Bradwell’s defense also came up big, quelling potential big innings on more than one occasion. Hellgren said he hopes the Tigers can build on the win.
“We need to keep a high level of concentration and intensity not only in games, but in practice as well,” he said. “We need to continue to get better and pick each other up when the time comes. It is easier to say than do, but tonight just proved to me and the players that we truly are capable of playing like this.”
Jenkins (8-1 overall, 7-1 in the region) still leads the region, while the Tigers and Camden are tied for second. The Tigers are 6-4 overall and 5-1 in 3-AAAAA.
The Tigers host Johnson at 5 p.m. tonight.

Tigers leading hitters
• Leonard Felton —
home run, double, 2 RBIs
• Eric Wells — single, double
• Alton Malpass  —
2 singles, double, 2 RBIs
• Jacob Dill  — single,
double, 2 RBIs
• Garrett McCorckle  —
2 singles, 2 RBIs
• Josh Driggers — 2 singles, RBI
• Matt Brown — single
• Mitch Rogers  — single