The Cornersville Bulldogs' magical playoff run finally came to an end on Wednesday night when they suffered a heartbreaking 2-1 loss to the Grace Christian Academy Rams at Riverdale High School in the loser's bracket final of their four-team pool.

Having lost 13-5 to GCA in their opening game of the tournament, the Bulldogs were locked in a 1-1 tie with the Rams through the first three innings of the contest before Grace Christian tallied a run in the top of the fourth to seize a 2-1 advantage.

GCA starting pitcher David Stallworth would make that lead stand up, as he snuffed out three Cornersville scoring threats over the final four innings to give the Rams the hard fought victory.

'A great team'

Although he was hoping that his team could find a way to extend their season, CHS coach Ben Putman was proud of what his players accomplished during the postseason.

"I can't even say how proud I am of these guys. They have done so much more than anyone has expected of them and they did more than anyone has ever done in this program. They kept making history game after game," said Putman. "Individually , we don't have a bunch of great ballplayers, but they were a great team. They had great chemistry and found a way to win time after time."

Although the Rams finished with eight hits and four walks against Cornersville starting pitcher Matt Callender and reliever Jody Sullivan, the Bulldogs limited the damage by throwing out four GCA base runners in the contest.

Bryson Shelton led the Rams offensively by going 3-for-4 with two doubles and a run scored, while Matt Cunningham added two hits. Chandler Adkins (1 RBI), Josh Liford (1 RBI), and Chase Newsome each had one hit for GCA as well.

Brave try

Hindered by a litany of injuries, Callender turned in a valiant effort on the mound, but suffered the loss after allowing two runs in three plus innings of work on five hits and two walks. Sullivan then came in and yielded three hits and two walks over four scoreless innings.

"Matt had a bad shoulder, a bad ankle, and a bad wrist, but he was exceptional tonight," said Putman. "Jody shut them down both times he faced them in the tournament, but we just couldn't score enough runs to win."

Cornersville drew six walks against Stallworth, but mustered only three hits and left seven runners on base overall, including five in scoring position.

Callender paced CHS at the plate by going 2-2 with a walk, while Sullivan added a hit and a run scored.

The Rams left runners on the corners in the top of the first inning before Callender worked around a walk and a hit batsman in the second inning with the help of a 1-6-3 double play.

Scoring begins

In the bottom of the second, the Bulldogs put a runner on second with two outs thanks to an infield single by Callender and a Zach Richards sacrifice bunt, but Stallworth retired the next Cornersville batter on a groundout to extinguish the threat.

GCA then took a 1-0 lead in the top of the third when Shelton scored on a RBI single by Chandler Adkins after leading off the inning with a double and advancing to third on a balk. The Rams appeared they might tack on another run in the frame when Cunningham hit a double to deep left field, but Bulldog shortstop Tate Lowery gunned down Adkins at home plate to keep the deficit at one.

Cornersville quickly counterpunched and plated a run in the bottom of the third to tie the game at 1-1. Sullivan singled to lead off the inning before advancing to second on a David Looney sacrifice bunt. Following a walk by Tyler Lowery, Sullivan advanced to third on a Tate Lowery fielder's choice before racing home on a wild pitch.

GCA takes lead

Grace Christian then pulled back ahead by tallying a run in the top of the fourth on the strength of two walks and a RBI double by Liford to grab a 2-1 lead.

After Cornersville left a runner in scoring position in each of the next two innings, the Rams stranded men on second and third in the top of the seventh.

The Bulldogs then put runners on first and second in the bottom of the seventh thanks to walks from Sullivan and Looney, but Stallworth retired the next two CHS batters on a strikeout and a fielder's choice to clinch the win for GCA.