Patriots end Indians unbeaten streak with 11-run fifth

SHARPSBURG-Hopes for an undefeated season were dashed Monday night as the Northside-Columbus Patriots scored 11 runs in the top of the fifth inning to defeat the East Coweta Indians 16-11 in a non-region matchup.
The loss was the first for the Indians after winning 16 straight games to open the 2013 season.

"Baseball is a game that at a high level, you do not go undefeated," commented EC head coach Franklin Deloach. "Now that we have lost our first game it will be interesting to see how we respond and react to it. Hopefully, as a team we will embrace this humble time with the attitude of hard work and striving to get better." 

The 1-AAAAA Patriots (14-6) took the first lead of the evening with a run in the top of the second inning but the Indians responded after one out in the bottom of the frame.
Geremy reached on a double, Matthew Meyer followed withg a single and after Austin Jones was hit by a pitch, Travis Williams lined a double off of the center field wall that scored Walton and Meyer.
Grayden Treadwell, who ran for Jones and advanced to third on Williams' double, came home with the third run of the inning when Tim Manning grounded out to shortstop.
The Indians added to the lead in the bottom of the third inning as Bryce Gemmel, Cole Antmann and Jonathan Banks had consecutive singles that accounted for one run then Walton followed with a two-run triple.
Walton came home with the fourth run of the frame on a sacrifice fly to center field by Meyer.
In the bottom of the fourth inning, the Indians added to what appeared to be a secure lead as they added three more runs as Camerson Smith led off with a walk and advanced to third when Gemmell singled.
Antmann hit a sacrifice fly to score Smith and Banks followed with a two-run blast over the left field fence.
Walton followed with a single and Meyer was hit by a pitch to give the Indians two more baserunners but a diving catch by Cam Hopkins in left field denied Jones an RBI hit.
Hopkins' catch seemed to signal the beginning of the end for the Indians as he led off the top of the fifth inning with an infield single off Meyer who took over on the mound in the top of the fourth.
Taylor Harper and Chad Pigg followed with singles for one run to cut the margin to 10-4.
An errant pickoff attempt at third allowed another run to come home then a single by Chad Sheppard and an infield error allowed another run to come home and all of a sudden the promising lead was down to 10-7.
A pitching change was made but that didn't matter to the Patriots as Vic Ballesteros and Bennett Wilson had RBI singles to cut the margin to a run for Hopkins who hit a two-run double that gave Northside an 11-10 lead.
An RBI single by Harper along with an infield error and a sacrifice fly led to three more runs and a 14-10 lead.

"Baseball can be a funny game," Deloach said about the inning.  It was a little of everything…  good baseball for Northside Columbus, bad baseball on our part and every small break in that inning going against us and for Northside."

The Indians tried to recover in the bottom of the fifth as Williams led off with a walk and a steal of second before eventually scoring after a pair of groundouts to Patriots shortstop Mike Rossi.

The Patriots added two more runs for the final margin as Harper had an RBI double and Pigg hit a sacrifice fly to left.
The Indians will try to get back on the winning track tonight when they host the Tri-Cities Bulldogs in a Region 3-AAAAAA doubleheader in Sharpsburg.