Though the Long County High School baseball team had a solid outing Tuesday, the Blue Tide still fell to undefeated Bacon County, 4-3, in Ludowici in the Region 2-AA openers for both squads.
“We played well. A couple of mental mistakes were our weak link,” Long County head coach Tyler Rogers said.
Ryan McGowan got the start and loss for the Blue Tide, going 4 innings before being relieved by Clay Strickland. McGowan gave up six hits, one walk and allowed four runs, of which three were earned. He struck out two batters. Strickland struck out one batter and allowed one hit and one walk.
Strickland also was the leading batter for the Blue Tide, going 3-for-3. Brian Lester, Christian Hall and Tripp Stapleton each had one hit.
With the loss, Long County fell to 2-6 overall and 0-1 in the region. Bacon County improved to 8-0 overall and 1-0. Though the Blue Tide have been struggling to notch wins, they have been in all of their contests except two. Rogers feels that they can have a successful year if they just keep playing hard and improving.
“It’s still early and there is a lot of baseball to be played. We got to keep playing”, he said.
Long County will be back on the diamond on Monday to host New Hampstead (1-6). When the teams faced off earlier in the year in Savannah, the Blue Tide won easily, 12-2. The game starts at 6 p.m.