Bradwell Institute’s baseball team lost on the road last weekend, but scored a victory at home Thursday over Long County.
That put the Tigers’ record at 4-8 overall and 0-6 in Region 3-AAAAA heading into this weekend.
Last Saturday, BI suffered a 7-6 non-region loss at Charlton County. On Thursday, the Tigers bounced back, holding off a third-inning rally by the Blue Tide to win 5-4.
Against the Indians, the Tigers took a 2-0 lead and were up 3-1 by the top of the third. However, the Indians drove in four runs in the bottom of the third and added a run in the fourth.
Bradwell managed to tie the game 6-6 in the top of the sixth. Charlton County notched the winning run in the bottom of the seventh when Brandon Dell singled in Scott Birchall.
Chris Bell led the Tigers at the plate, going 2 for 3 with two RBIs. Stephon Felton was 2 for 4 with one RBI. Evan Crystal was 1 of 3 with one RBI, while D.J. Jefferson also had one RBI. Darrell Hawkins, who missed several games to injury earlier this season, continued to improve by going 1 for 3.
BI’s Ryan Desbians pitched two innings, striking out two batters and giving up five runs, three of which were earned. Darrius Tilghman pitched two innings with two walks, one strikeout and one run allowed. Crystal pitched 2 1/3 innings, walking two, giving up one run and striking out four.
On Thursday, it looked early on as if the Tigers had the game in the bag. BI scored four runs in the first inning off a two-run single by Maxwell Ashe, an RBI double by Desbians and a wild pitch. The Tigers added a run in the second inning to take a 5-0 lead.
In the third inning, the Blue Tide’s Christian Hall hit a two-run double and Josh Gordon had a ground out that scored a run, cutting their deficit to two runs. In the fourth, Long County’s Brett Blake scored to make it a one-run contest, but the Bradwell defense held the remainder of the game.
Felton pitched the first three innings, striking out three, walking four and giving up three runs. Crystal pitched the next three innings, striking out seven, walking one and giving up one run. Bell pitched the last inning, notching two strikeouts.
Long County starting pitcher Tripp Stapleton gave up three hits, four runs, walked two and struck out one. Brian Lester finished the game, giving up five hits, walking two and earning two strikeouts.
Just two days before losing to the Tigers, Long County held off a strong Vidalia team to win 1-0 in Region 2-AA action. Going into this weekend, the Blue Tide were 6-8 overall and 2-2 in their region.
Long County was rained out of a doubleheader that was scheduled against Groves on Friday.