The Long County baseball team got back in the win column Friday night, defeating Charlton County High School 10-0.
Through the first inning and a half, both teams were scoreless, but in the bottom of the second, fireworks erupted on the Blue Tide side.
Richard "Rat" Johnson started the rally with a double, and after a wild pitch by the Charlton pitcher, he stole third. With one out, Kaleb Gaitten got a hit, bringing Johnson home. And the Indians over threw first, Gaitten advanced to second.
The next batter, Tyler Chambless, got a walk. Ricky Rivera got a hit, but the Indians kept the Tide from scoring, so the bases were loaded with Stevie Harrison coming to the plate.
Harrison managed a single, scoring Chambless and Gaitten, and the Tide still had only one out.
Bryan Wingate then popped a single, scoring Rivera. At the end of the second the Blue Tide had scored 9 runs and were in command of the game.
Over the next three innings, the Blue Tide shut out the Indians, and the Long County team put up one more run in the bottom of the fifth, to go up 10-0, ending the game with the mercy rule.
In the game, the Blue and White put up 7 hits and committed 1 error, while the Indians could muster only 1 hit, but had 4 errors.
The win was big for Long County, It kept them in sole position of the fourth spot in the 2-AA Region, one half game ahead of Brantley County.
In the region, Appling County and Jeff Davis County are on top with 10-2 records, while Pierce County is in third with a 9-3 mark, and Long is in fourth with a 6-7 record.
Also fighting for that crucial fourth spot is Brantley County (5-7), Tattnall County (4-7), McIntosh County (4-8), Benedictine (3-8), and Charlton County (3-10).
This Friday, the game could be for "all the marbles" as Brantley County comes to Ludowici.
In their first game this season the Blue Tide lost a tough one, 7-3. The home team can’t afford to lose again, since after that game the Blue and White will have only two region games left.
The show-down is in Ludowici, and it starts at 6 p.m.