LUDOWICI -- Blue Tide baseball is back, and fans finally got a look at the 2022 version of the squad. After getting to the quarterfinal round of the state playoffs for the first time in 18 years in 2021, the team looks to be just as competitive this year but seemed to struggle with a tough opponent in their scrimmage on Wednesday, Feb. 9.
The team hosted the 6A Brunswick Pirates for their scrimmage and ended up falling 8-2 but had the lead for most of the game.
The Tide retired nine straight batters to open the game and went to work in the bottom of the first to get on the board early.
Seniors Brennan Lee, Cole Moss and Jacob Struble all got on base with singles. Lee, however, was thrown out at home on Struble’s attempted bunt.
The Tide were not punished for their mistake, however, as power hitter and third baseman Daniel Edwards popped a sacrifice fly to centerfield to score Moss to give the team a 1-0 lead.
The score remained 1-0 until the sixth inning as neither the Tide nor Pirates were able to get much going at the plate.
Sophomore pitcher Landon Runyon allowed just one base runner and got a strikeout while junior Giovanni Jackson allowed the first hit in the top of the fourth.
Lee struck out two batters in his only appearance on the mound in the fifth inning. The Tide looked to get back on the scoreboard in the bottom of the third as sophomore Shannon Filkins led off with a single.
Lee was back up to the plate and saw his third ball go by. However, he and Filkins believed it was the fourth ball and as the latter made his way to second, he was caught in a pickle and tagged out.
Lee then came up short at the plate and the Tide immediately had two outs when they could have had two baserunners.
Moss was hit by a pitch, which could have loaded the bases, while Struble followed that up with a single. Edwards was thrown out at first on the next at bat to end the inning.
The mistakes in the third seemed to spell doom for the Tide for the rest of the game as the next five Tide batters did not get on base before Filkins reached on an error with two outs in the bottom of the fifth.
Lee failed to get him around the bags as the Tide still led 1-0 going into the sixth.
This is where things got bad for the Tide as Struble took over on the mound. Despite getting a strikeout, he walked three of the first four batters and loaded the bases.
A hit batter gave the Pirates their first run of the game and a passed ball gave them the lead. A sacrifice fly and stolen base made the score 4-1 before Joseph Cammack took the mound.
With the bases loaded and two outs, Cammack balked and scored a fifth run for the Pirates. A bases loaded single scored a sixth run before the Tide were finally able to get out of the inning down 6-1.
The Tide could not do much else as a passed ball and another hit by the Pirates scored two more runs in the top of the seventh.
Jackson walked in the bottom of the seventh before eventually being scored by freshman catcher Kenny Pickens on a single, but that was all else the Tide could muster as they fell 8-2.
Overall, the Tide will use this game against a tough opponent from a much larger school to their advantage as they look to compete in the tough Region 1-AAA this season.
They open their 2022 season on Tuesday, Feb. 15 against the McIntosh County Academy Buccaneers and then host the defending A-Public State Champion Metter Tigers on Wednesday, Feb. 16.