Bradwell senior players Chris Nunn, Sage Sammons, Hunter Jackson and John Riddel were honored at the Tigers’ last home baseball game of the season Wednesday afternoon. However, the celebration didn’t last as Richmond Hill beat the Tigers, 9-3, in a Region 3-AAAAA contest.
The Wildcats set the tone in the first inning when a somewhat questionable call cost the Tigers three runs.
The Wildcats had one run scored and had two out with bases loaded. The Wildcat batter hit the ball toward BI’s Evan Crystal. Crystal made the catch, but the infield umpire had turned his back for a second to see what was happening on the bases. Thinking the play was over, Crystal tossed the ball down, and the entire Tiger squad made its way toward the dugout. However, the umpire, apparently seeing the ball on the ground, allowed the game’s action to continue. The Wildcats cleared the bases, and the batter was given second during the chaos.
The BI fans vocalized their disappointment when the two umpires conferred for a few minutes but didn’t reverse the call.
The Tigers scored a run in their half of the first and added two in the second to make the score 4-3. Richmond Hill responded with four runs in the fourth inning and another run in the fifth.
Tiger coach Jeff Polk said Richmond Hill’s hitting decided the game.
“They hit the ball, and we struggled to hit the ball,” Polk said. “They are a very sound team at the plate, and eventually that seemed to be the difference.”
Bradwell’s Sage Sammons pitched the first 3 innings. He had three strikeouts and gave up four walks, five hits and seven runs. Stephen Felton pitched the rest of the game for BI, earning two strikeouts, walking two and allowing five hits and two runs.
Ryan Desbiens went 1 for 2 with one RBI and one run scored. Maxwell Ashe was 1 for 2 with one run scored.
The Tigers, 8-10 overall and 6-5 in the region, will play at 4:30 p.m. today at Jenkins.