According to ga.prepcountry.com, Bradwell Institute’s 8-9 loss Tuesday at home to the Groves Rebels dropped the Tigers into the fourth-place spot in Region 3-AAAAA. For BI coach Rhett Hellgren, who said he knows his team is capable of taking down the Rebels, it was a disappointing loss. Three weeks ago, the Tigers beat Groves, 17-7, in six innings.

The Rebels were up 1-0 going into the bottom of the first inning.

Tiger Zach Hawkins got a hit and stole second. Mitch Rogers hit one down the third base line to score Hawkins. Rogers stole second and third. A wild pitch let him score a run, and Josh Driggers closed the inning with a solo home run to put the Tigers up 3-1.

In the top of the third inning, Groves came within 1 point of the lead by scoring a run. In the fourth, the Rebels loaded the bases and a wild pitch tied the game at 3. A Rebel batter hit one to the centerfield wall, scoring two runs, and Groves took the lead. In the bottom of the inning, Leonard Felton scored after he dove head-first past the catcher and tagged the base, bringing the trailing Tigers within one run of the lead at 5-4.

In the fifth inning, the Rebels loaded the bases on a hit and two bunts, which were not fielded properly by the Tigers. A Rebel batter hit a shot to the outfield, scoring in two runs. With runners on second and third, Groves added another run off a wild pitch. Another Rebel hit one toward Hawkins who made the second out but allowed the visiting team to score another run.