Darton State falls in East Central District opener

ALBANY — The Darton State College baseball team will have to take the tough road if they want to make it to the Junior College World Series.

The Cavaliers blew a two-run, ninth-inning lead on Wednesday afternoon before falling to Walters (Tenn.) State 4-3 in 10 innings during the opening round of the East Central District Tournament at Darton.

The Cavaliers will face a familiar opponent in an elimination game of the double-elimination tournament — South Georgia State — who lost 10-2 to Dyersburg State in the afternoon game. Darton defeated the Hawks twice last week to win the conference tournament.

The two teams will play at noon Thursday with the season on the line.

But Wednesday’s game was a heart-breaker for the Cavaliers.

Darton led 3-1 for the majority of the game before Jeremy Beasley allowed a leadoff walk in the ninth. Walters’ Cody Young came up and hit a two-run homer to left field to knot the game at three.

Beasley, who had allowed just four hits, worked himself out of multiple jams in previous innings.

“He said he felt good so we left him in there,” Darton coach Scot Hemmings said. “Hindsight is 20/20 … probably should have gone and got Rabon (Martin), but I didn’t. Young hit a great pitch down in the zone.”

Darton opened the game with a run in the first inning after Tyler Morris singled home Denzell Gowdy.

Walters answered in the top of the second after a leadoff walk led to a run.

John Cable gave the Cavaliers a 3-1 lead in the third inning after a two-run homer to right field. That was the last of the scoring until Young’s two-run home run.

In the 10th inning, Colie Currie led off the inning with a walk. Currie came around to score the go-ahead run on a single by Harris Yett that bounced over Gowdy’s head at third base.

“We had our chances to bust it open and we didn’t,” Hemmings said. “It’s absolutely devastating right there.”

Darton threatened in the bottom of the 10th, getting runners on first and second before Walters State escaped with the victory.

The Cavaliers, who were knocked out of last year’s tournament after losing the first two games, will now need to win four games in a row to make it to the Junior College World Series that starts next week in Grand Junction, Colo.

“It is a hard road to go,” Hemmings said. “You’ve got to hit and you’ve got to pitch. You have to extend some guys and hope some guys can give us some extended outings. We have been here before, but our backs are against the wall.”