Red Devil rally falls short against Darlington
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The Bowdon High School baseball team rallied back vigorously after falling behind 5-0 in Friday’s Region 6-A opener against visiting Darlington, but the Tigers made just enough plays in the end to earn a 7-6 road win and take an early leg up in the region race.
“They’re a good team, and we’re a good team. We knew it was going to be tough,” Red Devil coach Stephen Mitchell said. “Somebody had to win. Somebody had to lose. Unfortunately, (Friday) we didn’t get the job done.”
The first two innings were fairly uneventful for both teams, but Darlington took control in the top of the third when it brought eight batters to the plate, recorded five hits and scored four runs to push out to a 4-0 lead.
Brad Butler, who got things started with a one-out single, eventually scored on a wild pitch. Lee Couch, who followed him with a double, scored on a two-out RBI single to left field from Chase Butler. Cole Miller then cleared the bases with a two-run shot to left field to make it a four-run inning for the Tigers (3-3, 1-0 Region 6-A).
In the bottom of the third, the Red Devils (6-3, 0-1 Region 6-A) loaded the bases with one out, with a Drew Roberts single, a Josh Jennings walk and a Nathan Urquhart infield single. But Sam Runyan grounded into an inning-ending double play as Bowdon couldn’t get on the board.
Miller added a second home run to left field in the top of the fifth to push it to 5-0, which appeared to awaken a stagnant Red Devil offense.
Jordon Loveless led off with a double in the bottom of the fifth, and after a Roberts strikeout, Jennings was hit by a pitch before Urquhart drove in Loveless with an RBI double to left-center.
Runyan grounded out to the pitcher for the second out of the inning, but catcher Quinn Robinson stepped in and rocketed a two-run double to left field to cut it to 5-3. Seth Key lined out on a hard-hit ball back to the pitcher to end the threat.
“We told our guys when we left our field that it was going to be a battle coming down here,” Tiger coach Chad Woods said. “So just because we jumped up 5-0, that doesn’t mean, you know, we relaxed or anything like that. Like I said, we knew it was going to be a battle the whole seven innings.”
Bowdon pulled starter Brandon Jones after the first two Darlington batters — Jack Stevens and Oren Wilson — got on base to start the top of the sixth, replacing him with Chad Higginbotham. After Higginbotham got Matt Duckworth out on a sacrifice bunt that moved Stevens’ pinch-runner and Wilson over to third and second, respectively, Brad Butler reached on an errant Urquhart throw that scored two runs and made it 7-3.
Russ Arnold then singled to center field, followed by Chase Butler reaching on an error to load the bases and bring Miller — who already had two home runs — to the plate. Miller grounded out to first, though, to end the inning and set the stage for another three-run inning for the Red Devils.
“We made a couple key errors in the sixth that really hurt us,” Mitchell said. “When you’re in a battle with a very, very good team, those things come back to bite you in the rear end sometimes.”
Drew Dixson started things for Bowdon in the bottom of the sixth by walking and getting to second on a balk. Nathan Montgomery then scored him with an RBI single before being forced out at second on a Loveless fielder’s choice.
Roberts drew a one-out walk before back-to-back RBI singles for Jennings and Urquhart cut it to 7-6.
“It looked like we made some adjustments and started hitting the fastball later in the game, started laying off the curveball and hitting the fastball,” Mitchell said. “That’s, you know, kind of our approach. We’re going to look to hit the fastball because it’s a straight one.”
Runyan walked to load the bases with still only one out. But the Tigers’ shortstop, Couch, fielded a hard-hit ball off Robinson’s bat, stepped on second and threw Robinson out at first for an inning-ending double play that proved to be a game-saver.
The Red Devils held Darlington scoreless in the top of the seventh, thanks in large part to a diving stop and throw by Loveless from his shortstop spot to end the half-inning.
But Stevens, who took over for the final two innings on the mound for Darlington after Wilson pitched the first five, set Bowdon down 1-2-3 in the bottom half of the seventh, getting Key to ground out to third, pinch-hitter Josh Stapler to ground out to second and Montgomery to strike out swinging to end the contest.
“We’re already one game in, and we kind of feel like we’ve got our backs to the wall,” Mitchell said. “And we’ve got to come out fighting on Tuesday against a very, very tough Mt. Zion team.”
And even though his team came out with the victory, Woods was reminded of just how tough Region 6-A will be this season.
“You can’t take for granted a single win. You know, it’s going to be a battle every time, especially when you come to Bowdon,” Woods said. “They play tough here.”
“They’re a good team, and we’re a good team. We knew it was going to be tough,” Red Devil coach Stephen Mitchell said. “Somebody had to win. Somebody had to lose. Unfortunately, (Friday) we didn’t get the job done.”
The first two innings were fairly uneventful for both teams, but Darlington took control in the top of the third when it brought eight batters to the plate, recorded five hits and scored four runs to push out to a 4-0 lead.
Brad Butler, who got things started with a one-out single, eventually scored on a wild pitch. Lee Couch, who followed him with a double, scored on a two-out RBI single to left field from Chase Butler. Cole Miller then cleared the bases with a two-run shot to left field to make it a four-run inning for the Tigers (3-3, 1-0 Region 6-A).
In the bottom of the third, the Red Devils (6-3, 0-1 Region 6-A) loaded the bases with one out, with a Drew Roberts single, a Josh Jennings walk and a Nathan Urquhart infield single. But Sam Runyan grounded into an inning-ending double play as Bowdon couldn’t get on the board.
Miller added a second home run to left field in the top of the fifth to push it to 5-0, which appeared to awaken a stagnant Red Devil offense.
Jordon Loveless led off with a double in the bottom of the fifth, and after a Roberts strikeout, Jennings was hit by a pitch before Urquhart drove in Loveless with an RBI double to left-center.
Runyan grounded out to the pitcher for the second out of the inning, but catcher Quinn Robinson stepped in and rocketed a two-run double to left field to cut it to 5-3. Seth Key lined out on a hard-hit ball back to the pitcher to end the threat.
“We told our guys when we left our field that it was going to be a battle coming down here,” Tiger coach Chad Woods said. “So just because we jumped up 5-0, that doesn’t mean, you know, we relaxed or anything like that. Like I said, we knew it was going to be a battle the whole seven innings.”
Bowdon pulled starter Brandon Jones after the first two Darlington batters — Jack Stevens and Oren Wilson — got on base to start the top of the sixth, replacing him with Chad Higginbotham. After Higginbotham got Matt Duckworth out on a sacrifice bunt that moved Stevens’ pinch-runner and Wilson over to third and second, respectively, Brad Butler reached on an errant Urquhart throw that scored two runs and made it 7-3.
Russ Arnold then singled to center field, followed by Chase Butler reaching on an error to load the bases and bring Miller — who already had two home runs — to the plate. Miller grounded out to first, though, to end the inning and set the stage for another three-run inning for the Red Devils.
“We made a couple key errors in the sixth that really hurt us,” Mitchell said. “When you’re in a battle with a very, very good team, those things come back to bite you in the rear end sometimes.”
Drew Dixson started things for Bowdon in the bottom of the sixth by walking and getting to second on a balk. Nathan Montgomery then scored him with an RBI single before being forced out at second on a Loveless fielder’s choice.
Roberts drew a one-out walk before back-to-back RBI singles for Jennings and Urquhart cut it to 7-6.
“It looked like we made some adjustments and started hitting the fastball later in the game, started laying off the curveball and hitting the fastball,” Mitchell said. “That’s, you know, kind of our approach. We’re going to look to hit the fastball because it’s a straight one.”
Runyan walked to load the bases with still only one out. But the Tigers’ shortstop, Couch, fielded a hard-hit ball off Robinson’s bat, stepped on second and threw Robinson out at first for an inning-ending double play that proved to be a game-saver.
The Red Devils held Darlington scoreless in the top of the seventh, thanks in large part to a diving stop and throw by Loveless from his shortstop spot to end the half-inning.
But Stevens, who took over for the final two innings on the mound for Darlington after Wilson pitched the first five, set Bowdon down 1-2-3 in the bottom half of the seventh, getting Key to ground out to third, pinch-hitter Josh Stapler to ground out to second and Montgomery to strike out swinging to end the contest.
“We’re already one game in, and we kind of feel like we’ve got our backs to the wall,” Mitchell said. “And we’ve got to come out fighting on Tuesday against a very, very tough Mt. Zion team.”
And even though his team came out with the victory, Woods was reminded of just how tough Region 6-A will be this season.
“You can’t take for granted a single win. You know, it’s going to be a battle every time, especially when you come to Bowdon,” Woods said. “They play tough here.”
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