The Central Hinds Cougars spoiled Senior Night for theBrookhaven Academy Cougars as Blake Rutland smashed a 3-run homerin the sixth inning to gain an 8-7 win Tuesday night in District4-AA baseball action.

“This is very unacceptable,” said BA coach Casey Edwards. “There isno reason why you should lose when we put together that many hitsas we did. We made too many mental and crucial mistakes throughoutthe game that came back to hurt us.”

Hunter McCullough was the only senior on the baseball team that wasrecognized on Senior Night.

The BA Cougars (14-6, 6-2) have completed their regular season andhave claimed the No. 1 seed in the district for the playoffs. Thedefending state champions will have a first round bye to begin theMAIS state playoffs.

The BA Cougars will return to action the week of April 25 as theyprepare for the winner of the Centreville/Glenbrook series

Central Hinds 8, BA 7

Baseball fans witnessed a catfight as both teams battled hard for awin. The BA Cougars jumped on the scoreboard in the first inningand captured a 2-0 lead. Central Hinds fought back to score one runin the second inning.

Brookhaven added three more run in the fourth inning to increasetheir lead to 5-1. Both teams scored two runs in the fifthinning.

Central Hinds exploded in the sixth inning for five runs; cappedoff by a 3-run shot from Rutland. The visitors held off rallyattempts in the bottom of the sixth and seventh innings to steal awin.

Lee Douglas was the winning pitcher in relief as he collected onestrikeout and no walks. Keller Bradford was the starting pitcherfor Central Hinds with three strikeouts and one walk.

Austin Travis adsorbed the loss for the BA Cougars. He pitchedone-third of the sixth inning collecting no strikeouts, two walksand five runs.

Bubba Keene was the starter for BA with eight strikeout and threewalks. Gage Posey pitched the remainder of the game, collectingfour strikeout and no walks.

Keene was the offensive leader for Brookhaven with a double and twosingles. Hunter Franklin contributed a double and a single. WillLucas, Posey and Travis belted two singles apiece. Hitting safelywere Hunter McCullough, Landon Nettles, Caleb Dunaway and MatthewEvans.

Rutland was the offensive spark for Central Hinds (17-7, 5-3) withthe homer. McCaa Donald supplied the fuel with a double and asingle. Kyle McNair crushed two singles. The CH Cougars got singlesfrom Austin Sills, Bradford and Douglas.

“The sixth inning was a big inning for us,” said Central Hindscoach Todd Montgomery. “Rutland provided the clutch hit and Douglascame in to get the job done on the mound to get us a victory. I amvery proud of the guys for battling hard and not giving up.”