After losing their top two pitchers early in the season, the Long County High School baseball team has had a hard time coming up with wins.

But even though the Blue Tide have struggled all year, the players have continued to work and have improved each week. Friday, the culmination of this hard work paid off as the Ludowici team knocked off Appling County 2-1 in Ludowici.

The Pirates went into the 2-AAA game posting a 16-7 overall record and a 7-1 mark in the region. Appling also went into the game as the #10 AAA team in the state, according to MaxPreps.com.

Long County, on the other hand, went in sitting at 5-17 overall and 1-7 in the region.

And, just as David found a way to beat Goliath, Long County found Appling’s vulnerability.

Blue Tide pitcher Andrew Swindell got the start and was solid through five innings, allowing one run and one hit, while striking out seven batters. Rex Johnson came in in the top of the sixth inning with his team down by a lone run. Johnson didn’t allow any runs and gave up only two hits.

In the bottom of the seventh, Long County tied the game to earn extra innings. After shutting down the Pirates in the top of the eighth, Swindell found the sweet spot of his bat, swatting the game-winning walk off run.

With the win, Long County improved to 6-17 overall and 2-7 in the region.

Blue Tide head coach Wade Peterson praised his team and said he still hoped they could squeak into the playoffs

"It was a great win for our program," the coach said. "Moving forward, hopefully we can ride that momentum into tomorrow and beat Tattnall by at least 4 runs and get in the playoffs."

Tuesday, Long County hosted Tattnall County, which went into the game 8-14 overall and 3-6 in the region. Results for that game were not available.

Today, the Blue Tide host Claxton High School (5-14). Today is also Senior Night for the team with Deondrae Volcy, Jeffery Edmondson, Joey Kuzlik, Matt Strickland, and Gary Poppell being recognized. The game starts at 5 p.m.