The Bradwell Institute Tigers took a long walk off a short Pirates’ plank when the Brunswick team came to Hinesville on Thursday and plucked a 13-7 win away from the local boys.
The Pirates went up 1-0 in the second inning. Although Tiger pitcher Garrett McCorkle struck out the first two batters, the Pirate on deck smacked one into the gap between the short stop and third baseman to get on base. McCorkle walked the next batter, and the next Pirate hit the ball deep to left field for an RBI.
The Tigers tied the game at the bottom of the third inning when Leonard Felton scored in Nick Snider, who had made his way to third base off a hit and steals. The Hinesville boys took the lead in the bottom of the fourth after Tiger Eran Hodge walked to first. McCorkle smacked a ball for a double and Hodge raced for home, diving to the plate.
In the fifth inning, the Pirates sharpened their swords for battle. With the bases loaded and no outs, a Pirate smacked a home run over the center field wall, scoring four runs to take a 5-2 lead. In the bottom of the inning, the Tigers’ celebrated as senior Zach Hawkins hit a solo home run. It was his first homer as a varsity Tiger player. But the boys still trailed.
The Pirates added three runs in the top of the sixth, and McCorkle was relieved by freshman Tiger Morgan Crean. The next Pirate scored another run to close the inning up 9-3.In the bottom of the inning, McCorkle and Eric Wells got on base. Mitch Rogers bunted in a run and Wells stole home on a wild pitch. Snider smacked a double with an RBI. Hawkins smacked a shot to the center field wall, scoring another run while he raced to third. The Tigers closed the gap trailing 7-9 going into the top of the seventh.
The Pirates faced two outs but had runners on second and third. Brunswick scored both runners off hits. Another Pirate hit a shot to outfielder Jacob Dill. The runner on third base ran in for the score, and from deep in the outfield, Dill threw the ball to Tiger catcher Josh Driggers, who dove at the opponent headed home but just missed the tag.
The next batter hit another shot to Dill, who, again, made a hard throw to the catcher. Driggers got the tag on the runner for the final out.
At their last at-bat, the Tigers went three up and three down for a 13-7 loss.
Bradwell was scheduled to play at Johnson on Friday afternoon and will host Beach on Wednesday for their last home game of the regular season. The Tiger seniors will be honored before Wednesday’s game, which is at 5:30 p.m.