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Red Level dropped both games of a double header with W.S. Neal Monday.

Game 1: W.S. Neal 8, Red Level 6
In the first game, the Eagles took a big lead with six runs in the first innning. Red Level battled back, but came up short with a final score of 8-6.

Seven errors plagued the Tigers, including consecutive errors on ground balls to start the game. A few batters later, a triple made the score 2-0 for W.S. Neal. Another error led to Neal’s third run of the inning. The Eagles went on to score two more runs in the inning for a 6-0 edge.

The Tigers defense settled down after that first inning and the Eagles would not score again until the fifth.

Red Level would get its offense going in the bottom of the third.  With one out, Malikye Wright reached on a single to center. He advanced to third on a double off the bat of Walker Simmons. With two outs, Connor Blackwell showed some clutch hitting, nailing a double to center bringing home both Wright and Simmons, cutting W.S. Neal’s lead to 6-2.

The Eagles posted another run in the top of the fifth on a wild pitch.

Red Level would continue chipping away at the lead, scoring two more runs in the bottom of the fifth.

In the final inning, the Eagles would make the score 8-4, but the Tigers minimized the damage with an inning-ending double play.

In their final chance at the plate, Kennith Huckabaa drove in a run for Red Level with a double to right field and Caleb Padgett scored the final run on a wild pitch. Huckabaa advanced to third, but Neal ended the game with a strikeout to secure the 8-6 victory.

Leading the Red Level offensive was Blackwell with two hits and two RBI.

Brock Kelley pitched 4.2 innings, recording two strikeouts. Buddy Griffin completed the game with 2.1 innings.

Game 2: W.S. Neal 12, Red Level 10
Red Level jumped out to the lead and held on to it for much of the game, but the Eagles posted a late comeback to secure the victory, 12-10.

Red Level got things going in the bottom of the second. Blackwell led off the inning by reaching when he was hit by the pitch. G. Hodges followed with a walk. A bunt attempt turned into a single for J. Poindexter allowing Blackwell to score and Hodges to move to third. Padgett followed with a line-drive double to center, scoring two runs. The Tigers scored one more run in the inning on a wild pitch, taking a 4-0 lead into the third inning.

W.S. Neal cut the lead in half, 4-2, scoring one run on a double and another on a balk call against the Tiger pitcher.

The Eagles had a big fourth inning, scoring three runs to take a 5-4 lead.

An error in the bottom of the inning allowed Red Level to tie the game at 5-5. A couple of errors kept the momentum going for Red Level as they brought home two more runs. An RBI double off the bat of Simmons closed out the scoring in the fourth with Red Level once again leading, 8-5.

Neal made it a one-point game in the top of the fifth, adding two runs, but Red Level kept pace scoring two of their own in the bottom half of the inning. Huckabaa drove in one of those runs on a single and Padgett scored on a wild pitch, lifting Red Level to a 10-7 lead.

The score did not change until Neal started the seventh inning with a single and double. Several errors and fielder’s choice plays helped the Eagles on their way to scoring five runs in the inning and taking the 12-10 lead, which proved to be the final.

Leading the Tiger offense were Javen Poindexter with two hits, two RBI and three runs scored, Walker Simmons had two hits with one RBI and Caleb Padgett had a double and two walks, finishing with two RBI and scoring three runs.