LUDOWICI -- The Long County Blue Tide baseball team is in a tight series against Pierce County. In a series that could potentially decide the region champion, the Tide took game one, but fell 9-6 in game two on Wednesday, March 30.
The Tide handed the top-ranked Bears their first loss of the season on Tuesday as senior Blake Holland and sophomore Landon Runyon combined for a no hitter 2-0 win in game one.
Wednesday’s game, rescheduled from Thursday due to potential severe weather, was much different.
The Bears jumped out to a 1-0 lead on the Tide in the first inning after an RBI single with two outs on the board. Senior Jacob Struble was able to get the final out on a strikeout.
It did not take long for the Tide to get back into the game as they loaded the bases with no outs thanks to infield singles by senior Brennan Lee, sophomore Shannon Filkins and Struble. The latter laid down an impressive bunt to reach first.
Senior Daniel Edwards came up to bat and smacked a single to the shortstop. He was able to beat the throw as the Tide brought one run home and had one out after a force at third.
Joseph Cammack walked in his first at bat and Struble was able to score from third after an error on a pickoff attempt to give the Tide the 2-1 lead.
The Bears were able to stop the Tide’s momentum as they recorded a double play on freshman Nick Sizemore’s first at bat.
The score remained 2-1 through the second as both teams went three up, three down. The Bears were able to add a run and tie the game on a passed ball at the plate in the third.
It was Pierce County’s turn to go on a run in the top of the fourth as Struble was replaced with Giovanni Jackson on the mound.
Struble allowed two hits through his third of an inning in the top of the fourth before Jackson took the mound. He hit a batter and a sacrifice RBI gave the Bears the 3-2 lead.
A walk with two outs loaded the bases and a hit to deep center cleared the bases to make the score 6-2 going into the bottom of the inning.
Jackson walked to open the at bat as did Holland and senior Cole Moss was hit by a pitch to load the bases with no outs.
Lee cracked a single to score a run as did Filkins to make the score 6-4. Edwards came up to the plate with two on and one out.
He singled into left field to bring home the Tide’s fifth run before Cammack got his first and only hit of the game to tie it at six.
The Bears were able to get back on top of the Tide in the fifth as Jackson was pulled after allowing a hit. Lee took the mound and allowed a hit and a run on a sacrifice RBI to give the Bears a 7-6 lead.
The Tide were not able to get their bats going again as they recorded just one hit and two more base runners off a hit batter and a walk over the final three innings.
In the top of the sixth, the Bears extended their lead on a two-RBI double with a close call at the plate on the second run that would have been the final out of the inning.
With the 9-6 loss, the Tide fall to 12-3 and 1-1 in the region. They wrap up the region series with the Bears on Friday, April 1 and look to pull out the big win going into the rest of the region schedule.