By By Adam Prestridge
It came down to the wire Monday night in East Brewton for the Escambia County High School baseball team.
The Blue Devils (8-10, 0-2) jumped out to an early 2-0 lead in the top of the first inning, but could not match that effort in the top of the seventh as they fell to W.S. Neal, 4-3.
Escambia County took a 2-0 lead in the top of the first inning following two W.S. Neal errors and a single by Blue Devil infielder Michael Thomas.
The Eagles (7-7) scored three runs in the third inning to take a 3-2 lead. Tyler Cross led the inning off with a double and then moved to third after a Blue Devil error off a William Shell hit. Cross later scored on a throwing error on the catcher when Shell stole second.
Jake Cannon’s RBI single scored Shell to tie the game at 2-2 for the Eagles and a single by Tyler Nall scored Cannon to give the Eagles a 3-2 lead.
The Eagles added an insurance run in the bottom of the fifth inning when Cross reached safely on a bunt single and then took second on an error.
Cross reached third on a passed ball and then scored on a wild pitch for the Eagles to give them a 4-3 lead.
The Blue Devils added a run in the top of the seventh to cut the Eagle lead to 4-3, but the Eagles held on for the win and evened the series against ECHS at 1-1. The Blue Devils defeated the Eagles 11-6 in early March.
Shell picked up the win on the mound as he went the complete game seven innings and allowed three runs (none earned) on two hits, walked five and struck out nine in the win.
"We got the hits we needed with men on base as we have not been doing that," W.S. Neal head coach Coy Campbell said. "(William) Shell pitched well like he has done all year. This was a big win for us after losing to them in the county tournament earlier."
The Blue Devils will host Northview in a doubleheader Thursday at Tom Byrne Park for a chance to even their record. Rasberry said the team will work on fundamentals this week in hopes of achieving that goal.
Rasberry said those things include hit and run, moving people over and approaches at the plate.
The first pitch is scheduled for 4 p.m.
Brewton Standard sports editor Adam Robinson contributed to this article.