By Shannon Fagan, WEIS Sports Director

CEDAR BLUFF – The will to scratch and claw to the end has always been a common trait Cedar Bluff baseball teams have all had. What has been the 2024 Tigers’ Achilles heel so far is playing fundamentally sound baseball.

First-year head coach Colby Coursey hopes when the fundamentals catch up to the fight, his team will be more of a force to be reckoned with.

But they aren’t quite there yet.

Seven walks, four batters hit-by-pitches, and five fielding errors all played a part in Cedar Bluff’s 14-9 loss to Gaston on Thursday.

Despite all of that, the Tigers were still just one big hit away from making things interesting late.

They loaded the bases in the bottom of the seventh and scored three runs, but they Gaston’s five-run top half of the inning – in which four Bulldogs walked and two were hit by pitches – proved too much a deficit to overcome.

“It’s usually one or two innings this year that’s gotten us,” Coursey said. “We’ll walk a hitter and make a couple of errors behind it, things like that. Even though we’ve got some veteran players, some seniors and juniors, we kind of have a lack of baseball experience, knowing situational stuff. But we’re learning. They’re doing a good job.

“We’ve been in almost every game. Even in the last inning tonight we had a chance. We had the bases loaded. If we get to Kaden Pack, he’s got the ability to hit the gap and split it open. But we just didn’t get there.”

The Tigers’ hits were there. They collected 15 in the game, led by Pack and Isaac Bishop’s 3-for-4, two-run performances apiece. One of Pack’s hits was a double. Bishop doubled twice and drove in two runs.

Coursey said “it’s probably one of the nights we’ve swung the bat.”

“It’s like I told them, we have to be able to pound the strike zone,”Coursey said. “I think we had four lead-off walks to begin an inning, and then you have errors behind that. We’ve got to limit lead-off walks. We had a couple of two-out walks that come back and bit us too.

“It’s a learning process. They’ve had a tough schedule so far, but we’ve got to clean it up before area play next week.”

Gaston scored two runs in the top of the first inning, but Cedar Bluff tied the game with a pair of runs in the bottom of the second. The Tigers took a 3-2 lead in the bottom of the third on a Bishop double to left that scored Jacob Chambers. Chambers was hit by a pitch to lead off the inning.

Gaston seemingly took control of the game with two runs in the fourth, two more in the fifth, and three in the sixth to take a 9-3 advantage.

Cedar Bluff rallied for three runs in the bottom half of the sixth to make it a 9-6 game, but the Tigers walked the first two Bulldog batters to begin the top of the seventh. Eleven total came to the plate and five runs crossed it, giving Gaston a 14-6 edge.

Cedar Bluff managed to bat around in the bottom half and score three runs, but they were too little too late.

Jayce Stephens led the Bulldogs at the plate with three hits, a walk, three runs and two RBIs. Conner Humphrey and Luke Hollingsworth both had a pair of hits. One of Humphrey’s hits was a double. He also drove in three runs. Hollingsworth scored three times. Joshua Ridens and Easton Albert both doubled. Ridens walked once and Albert walked twice.

Albert also picked up the win for the Bulldogs. The lefty tossed 5 2/3 innings and allowed two earned runs on 10 hits with a pair of strikeouts.

Caleb Edmondson and Hunter Stallings both doubled for the Tigers. Edmondson also had a single and scored a run. Stallings walked and drove in two runs. Bryson Teague added single and drove in a run. He also scored twice. Bubba Chadwick and Eli McFry both had a hit and scored a run. McFry also walked. Warren Wallace had a pinch hit in the bottom of the seventh.

Teague suffered the loss after working five innings. He gave up two earned runs on six hits with a walk and four strikeouts before being relieved by Edmondson in the sixth.

“You have to remind the guys they’re fighting and giving themselves a chance to win,” Coursey said. “We flipped the order, so you can’t ask for anything better than that. I love the fight in them. This is a very fun group to coach. We’ll get back at it tomorrow and fix our mistakes.”