By Thomas Sellers Jr.
The Munford Cougars came out with a patient approach in attempt to upset one of the best teams in Tennessee.
That opponent just happened to be their Tipton County rivals and District 13-3A foes the Brighton Cardinals. The first of back-to-back game took place April 9 at the Brighton Baseball Field.
The visiting Cougars jumped out 3-0 using walks and Brighton miscues to build the early advantage. Once the Cardinals settled down, they rallied back to win the seesaw affair 8-7.
“We came out and made some errors like we did in the beginning,” Cardinal Blane “Ted” Lavelle said. “Coach says win the inning and let’s tighten up. And we did by scoring one more than they did and as much as they did.”
Brighton Head Coach Ryan Wood kept encouraging his players to win each round after falling behind 3-0. The Cardinals starched out a run in the bottom of the first.
Then Brighton deadlocked the contest at 3-3 with a pair of runs in the second inning. The Cardinals surged ahead in the third inning starting with a Sam Dunlap base hit scoring Hunter Deering.
Later in the frame, Cardinal Logan Rushing made it 6-3 when he put the ball into play scoring Dunlap and Dylan Forbes.
“We started off slow,” Cardinal Dalton Rushing recalled. “We had a few errors in the first inning and a few walks. Led to three runs but the big thing we’ve been on all year is fight back.
“Winning the next three innings, we did by winning the next two out three,” he added. “Our bats kind of fell off after a 6-3 lead. I feel after those 6 runs we didn’t stay on them. That’s where we fell tonight. The bats coming alive at the right time was big for us tonight.”
Munford’s bats came to life in the fifth inning chipping away at the Brighton lead. Cougar Hunter Reed stroked a single to drive in Riley Bampfield making the score 6-4.
Then the Cougars got the big blow from Trent Suggs with a double tying the game at 6-6.
Brighton settled down and regained the lead in the bottom of the fifth. After the Rushing brothers reached base, Lavelle delivered a clutch hit driving a triple deep into the outfield.
The Cardinals were ahead 8-6 heading into the late innings. Munford tried to rally in the seventh inning but could only get one run courtesy of a Suggs double.
The 8-7 Brighton victory set the table for the rematch at Munford the following night.
“Really have to execute our situations,” Dalton concluded. “I think we stranded bases loaded three times tonight. That’s not like us. One was with only one out and including myself. I hit a groundball double play. I think another one was with one out with a fly ball, no tag. Then the next one was a fly ball, no tag. We’re going to have really execute.”
