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Bulloch drops key region matchup
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    Edmund Burke Academy broke a 6-6 tie in the top of the ninth inning but Bulloch Academy couldn’t answer back in the bottom of the frame as the Spartans took an 8-6 victory over the Gators Tuesday in a key GISA Region 2-AA baseball matchup.
    The Gators (9-6 overall, 2-4 in region play) looked to end it in the eighth but an unlucky turn of events burst Bulloch’s balloon in its final regular-season home contest.
    In the bottom of the inning, Matthew Sapp drew a walk and Taylor Burke had a solid single to left. Michael DeLoach waited out a base-on-balls to put runners on all three bags with no outs.
    Designated hitter Matt Simons, who blasted a solo homer in the fifth and ripped an RBI single in the seventh, came to the plate. The junior drilled a chest-high line drive directly to EBA shortstop Kyle Wilson, who promptly fired the ball to first to catch DeLoach off the base and give the Gators two outs. Bulloch’s Win Lee flew out to right to end the inning.
    In the ninth, the Spartans (10-5, 4-3) scored two runs on three hits and one Gator error to take the lead. Bulloch went down 1-2-3 in the bottom of the ninth to end the game.
    EBA collected 12 hits in the win while the Gators had seven. The dramatic contest featured five home runs. Taylor Burke went the distance for Bulloch in the loss while Jamie Smith, who pitched 2 1/3 innings, got the victory. Smith led the EBA offense, going 3-for-4 with an RBI while D.J. Johnson was 3-for-6 with two RBI. For Bulloch, Simons was 2-for-5 with two RBI and Burke was 2-for-5.
    The Gators had their backs to the wall the entire contest and had to score two runs in the bottom of the seventh to push the game into extra innings.
    Down 6-4 in the final frame, DeLoach earned a free pass, stole second and raced home when EBA left fielder Jake Evans bobbled Simons’ sharp single into left. Johnson, who was the Spartans’ starting pitcher, gave up another walk, this one to Jordan Walker, to put runners at first and second with one out.
    Johnson was relieved by Hamp Wade, who walked Eli Strickland to load the bases and then issued Clay Anderson a free pass to score Simons for a 6-6 tie. Smith came on in relief of Johnson and struck out Ethan Lovett to end the Gator threat.
    Edmund Burke took a 2-0 lead in the opening inning. Hamp Wade opened the game with a solo homer over the right-center field fence. Singles from Michael Weaver and Johnson, along with a bunt sacrifice from Aaron Malcolm and an Evans walk pushed the second run across.
    But the Gators knotted the score in the bottom of the inning on a hit and two EBA errors.
    Sapp took second on an error by left fielder Evans and went to third on Burke’s infield single. DeLoach walked to load the bases. Win Lee hit into a sure double-play but DeLoach’s slide jarred the glove from Wilson’s hand and both Sapp and Burke alertly raced around the bases to score.
    The Spartans went back up in the second when Smith drilled Burke’s 0-2 pitch over the center-field fence for a two-run homer and a 4-2 lead. EBA increased its advantage to 5-2 in the fourth.
    But the Gators kept chipping away.
    In the fourth, Walker blasted a ball past the flag pole in straightaway center to cut the EBA lead to 5-3. In the fifth, Simons pounded one to left center to make it a 5-4 ballgame. Not to be outdone, Johnson hit a line-drive homer in right center to put the Spartans back up by two, 6-4.
    Prior to the game, BA seniors Drew Cheshire, Scott Hendley, Ethan Lovett and Jordan Walker were honored at home plate by Gator head coach Daryl Evans.
Bulloch Academy hits the road hard in the next three weeks. The Gators have a non-region match-ups today in Savannah against St. Andrew’s School and on May 1 in Lyons against Robert Toombs Christian Academy in Lyons. BA has two more Region 2-AA contests remaining; May 2 against Frederica Academy on St. Simons Island and May 5 against Memorial Day School in Savannah.