The Long County Blue Tide baseball team closed out their region schedule on Tuesday, April 7 as they hosted the Groves Rebels in a doubleheader. The games were never really close as the Tide went on to a pair of 15-0 wins against their region foes.

The Tide loaded the bases in the first inning of the first game with a Charlie Johnson leadoff single and two walks. Peyton Batt got a sacrifice RBI before a hit batter loaded the bases again.

The Tide got five runs off three walks and two hit batters to push the lead to 6-0. Dalton Lester and Braedon Chambless’ back-to-back two-run doubles made the score 10-0 before Batt hit another double to score Chambless.

Batt later scored on a passed ball as the Tide led 12-0 going into the second inning.

Dallen Strickland’s double led off the bottom of the third and after a walk to Rhett Long, freshman Gerdale Cannida rocketed a ball into centerfield and got all the way to third to score two runs.

A walk and a dropped third strike loaded the bases before Pettis closed out the game on a sacrifice RBI.

Batt’s two-run single put the Tide up 2-0 in the first. Kamari Coward hit a two-run homer to left field in the second, and Strickland’s double following two hit batters increased the lead. Dylan Lester followed with a run-scoring double of his own.

Pettis got a sacrifice RBI before Isaiah Miller reached on an error to score another run as the Tide led 9-0 going into the third.

Strickland struck out all three batters as the Tide looked to finish out the game in the bottom of the third. Two walks set up Strickland again as he popped up into right field and both runners scored to make the score 11-0.

The younger Lester doubled before Long was hit by a pitch. The Tide scored three runs on walks for a 14-0 lead. Lester drove in the final run of the game in the fourth.

The Tide are now 12-8 and finish their region schedule 8-4. They now await their playoff seeding as the possibility of a three-way tie for second place would give them the runner-up trophy in Region 3-AAA and their first home playoff series since 2001.

For this to happen, Liberty County will need to beat Southeast Bulloch on April 8 - the Panthers lost to the Jackets Monday. The Panthers will then need to lose both games against Calvary Day next week.

This would create a three-way tie for second and the Tide would have the advantage over Liberty County and Southeast Bulloch, having beaten them both by more runs than they lost.

The Tide will wrap up the regular season with a home game against Pierce County April 8, away game against Brantley County April 13 and a final home game against Appling County April 16.