Long County baseball players knew Tuesday’s game against No. 4 Pierce County would be tough. But the Blue Tide held their own, falling by only two, 6-4, in Blackshear.

MaxPreps.com had ranked the Bears No. 4 in the state.

Both teams came out strong, posting two runs early, but Pierce steadily pulled away leading 6-2 at the end of six. Even though outgunned, the Blue Tide played hard, as they have all season, and pulled within two in the top of the seventh.

Colton Infinger got the start and loss for Long, throwing the entire game. He gave up 8 hits, 6 runs of which 4 were earned. He also struck out 2 and walked one. Notable batters for the Blue Tide were Joey Kuzlik, who was 2-2 with 1 RBI, Rex Johnson 2-3, Matt Strickland 2-4 with one run and Ethan Williams 1-3 with one run and one RBI.

With the 2-AAA loss, Long County fell to 4-16 overall and 0-6 in the region. Pierce County improved to 15-6 overall and 5-1 in the region.

Friday, the Blue Tide took on another region opponent, Liberty County (4-16 and 1-5).

Tuesday, Long County is back at home taking on Brantley County (10-15 and 4-2) in more region action. That game is in Ludowici and it begins at 5:55 p.m.