The South Greene baseball team fought hard to come back on Monday evening, but ultimately six unearned runs were its undoing in an 8-6 loss to Hampton.
“If we could tie a full baseball game together it would be really good for us,” South Greene coach Dalton Ramsey said. “We showed some fight early and in the sixth and seventh we tried to comeback and get the win. But we dug ourselves too big of a hole. But it’s good to know that we have a team full of fighters that are going to fight until the very end.”
The Bulldogs broke the game open with six runs in the fourth inning as they took an 8-2 lead.
Singles by Landon Buchanan and Gabriel Lyons and a hit batter loaded the bases with two outs. The Rebels were then inches away from getting out of the inning when Chase Davenport sent a slow roller to the right side. Pitcher Colby Brooks came off the bump and slipped on the wet grass trying to field the ball. His rushed throw to first missed the target, allowing two runs to score while also extending the inning.
Next up Jaden Kuhn launched a three-run home run over the fence in right field to stretch the lead to 7-2. Elisha Henson reached on a walk and scored on a groundball through the left side before the Rebels could get out of the inning.
“We have to learn to limit the errors. The conditions tonight were not good, they’re wet and miserable, but we have to be able to play through that,” Ramsey said.
In the fifth inning South Greene looked as though it would put a dent in the deficit when a hit batter and two walks loaded the bases, but the Bulldogs escaped with no damage done.
The Rebels’ comeback started in earnest with three runs in the sixth inning. Seth Franklin started by reaching on an infield error before Tyler Davis and Eli Fillers loaded the bases with a pair of walks. With two outs Charlie Lane knocked in two runs by skipping a groundball past the second baseman.
Brendan Lisenby then dropped a ball into shallow right field to score Fillers and close the gap to 8-5.
After sitting Hampton down in order South Greene got one more run in the bottom of the seventh inning and put the tying run on base, before the comeback fell short.
Franklin led off the inning by slamming a solo home run through the left-center gap. Kuhn then came on in relief for Hampton and struck out the first two batters he faced. Cameron Kinser breathed some life into the Rebels by reaching on an error and Zach Mason lined a single into left field to put the tying run aboard. Mason would get no further and a pop up ended the game.
South Greene started the scoring in the second inning with two runs. Colby Brooks sent a slow roller down the first base line that forced a Bulldog error to lead off the inning. Franklin then put a ball deep in the gap on the left side of the infield to put two runners on base. Davis scored the first run with a ground ball through the rights side, and a sacrifice bunt by Pablo Rosario scored the second.
Hampton scored two runs with two outs in the third inning to even the score. Noah Nichols knocked in both runs with a drive to left field, but the Rebels caught him at second base to end the inning.
Brooks took the loss on Monday in a soggy complete-game effort. He struck out eight, walked six and allowed seven hits.
Henson earned the win for the Bulldogs. In 5 2/3 innings he struck out six, walked five and allowed six hits. Kuhn earned the save in one inning of work. He struck out two, walked none and allowed two hits.
At the plate Franklin went 2-for-4 with a home run for South Greene. Mason went 2-for-2 and Lane was 2-for-5 with two RBIs. Davis reached base three times with a single and two walks.
Kuhn and Henson each had two hits for Hampton.
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