The Reed baseball team clubbed five home runs and capitalized on four Douglas errors to bring the Tigers' season to an early end Thursday afternoon with a 14-9 victory at Manogue in the Northern 4A playoffs.
"I'm proud of this group," Douglas coach John Glover said. "At the beginning of the yearr, we didn't know what to expect. We were just hoping to get to the playoffs. They surprised us, they were overachievers this year all the way.
"It was unfortunate to end the way it did today, just with us not playing very well."
The game went back-and-forth throughout with the teams using a combined seven pitchers.
Douglas took the early 3-1 lead, thanks in part to a two-run single from Troy Torres, but Reed came storming back with a seven-run third inning to go up 8-3.
Then Tigers scratched back into the game, getting two runs on a one-out single from Tim Rudnick in the fourth and adding another three in the fifth as Kyle Flagg drew a bases-loaded walk, Beau Davis drove Tyler May home with a fielder's choice and Tanner Thomas doubled to right to bring Jeff Crozier home, tying the game at eight,
Reed took the lead for good in the sixth inning, however, as CJ Maldonado hit a two-run homer to center, his second of the day, and John Pelino followed with a solo home run to center for the 11-8 lead.
Douglas had a chance to get right back into the game as Torres led off the bottom half with a triple and Tyler May singled him home. Douglas loaded the bases up on a fielder's choice, a hit batsman and a single, bringing Hadlock to the plate.
Reed countered by bringing staff ace Derrick Williford out of the bullpen to face Hadlock and was able to strike him out.
"That's the matchup we're looking for right there," Glover said. "We'll take that every day of the week, having Hadlock at the plate with the bases loaded. Williford made some good pitches and struck him out and that's just how the game goes."
Reed sealed the win with three runs in the seventh, including a home run from shortstop Casey Yocum.
"There were a lot of things today," Glover said. "We just didn't play well defensively. Reed had a bunch of home runs but our errors killed us today. You get good hitters on a good team like that and you start giving them extra outs, it's going to hurt you. That's what happened today."
Reed went on to lose 15-0 to Manogue later in the day. Manogue will face Reno in the regional championship Saturday at Manogue. Both teams have already clinched berths in next week's state tournament.
