Summertown (7-2) handed the Marshall County Tigers their third loss of the season on Thursday afternoon when they defeated MCHS 9-7 in six innings at Joe George Field in the Rocket/Tiger Holiday Classic.

With the Tigers (3-3) playing the second of three games that day, Marshall County coach Steve Reese decided to rest many of his normal starters against the Eagles and saw Summertown race out to an 8-0 lead through the first two innings of play.

The youthful Tiger squad battled back and sliced the deficit to 9-7 in the bottom of the sixth inning before the game's time limit expired at the end of the frame.

Hit explosion

Bolstered by a six-run first inning, Summertown pounded out 13 hits and drew four walks against three MCHS pitchers. Quentin Crowell spearheaded the Eagles' offensive attack by going 3-for-4 with 2 RBI and a run scored, while Bryson Lyons (2 RBI), Bryce Giles (1 RBI), and Konner Ambrose (1 RBI) each had two hits..

Marshall County starting pitcher Aaron Hobbs suffered the loss after giving up six runs in two-thirds of an inning on six hits and two walks. Zach Gordon came on in relief of Hobbs and yielded three runs over three and a third innings on six hits and two walks, before Brooks Leftwich allowed one hit in two scoreless innings of work.

The Tigers, meanwhile, finished with eight hits and five walks against Summertown starting hurler Nathan Morrison, who went the distance on the mound to earn the victory. Conner Bush (1 RBI) and Lane Whitesell both notched two hits to pace MCHS at the plate, while Grayson Wiles (1 RBI), Gordon (1 RBI), Bubba Houghton (1 RBI), and Hobbs registered one hit apiece.

Positives

"I saw some positive things. We have to have some of these younger kids step up in case someone gets hurt. That's what these games are for," said Reese. "I thought we grew up today and we might have won the game if we hadn't gotten off to such a bad start in the first inning."

Marshall County dug themselves a big hole at the start of the game, as Summertown crossed home plate six times in the top of the first inning on the strength of two walks, a Tiger throwing error, an Ambrose RBI double, a two-run double by Lyons, and a pair of RBI singles by Crowell and Luke Scott to grab a 6-0 lead.

The Eagles then plated two more runs in the second inning thanks to a hit batsman, a MCHS error, and a Crowell RBI single to forge an 8-0 advantage.

Tigers strike back

After Summertown left runners on the corners in the top of the third, the Tigers got back into the contest by pushing across five runs in the bottom half of the frame with the help of a leadoff single by Whitesell, a wild pitch, a passed ball, a RBI triple by Houghton, and RBI singles from Gordon, Bush, and Wiles to narrow the gap to 8-5.

The Eagles stretched their lead to 9-5 in the top of the fourth when Lyons scored on a RBI double by Giles after doubling and advancing to third on a Crowell bloop single.

In the bottom of the sixth, the Tigers loaded the bases with two outs on an error, a walk by Dunn Crowder and a Bush infield single before Leftwich and Chandler both drew walks to cut the deficit to 9-7. Morrison finally escaped the jam by striking out the next Marshall County batter to secure the victory for Summertown.