The Cornersville Middle School Bulldogs fell to 0-2 on the young season when they were defeated 13-3 at home in five innings by the Community Vikings on Tuesday night.

Having lost 10-0 to Community in their previous outing, Cornersville held a 1-0 lead at the end of the first inning in Tuesday's contest, but things quickly went downhill for the Bulldogs after that point, as the Vikings outscored CMS 13-2 over the next four frames to complete the sweep of the season series.

Community finished with a modest six hits against three Cornersville pitchers, but were aided by nine walks, four Bulldog errors, and three hit batsmen.

Plate leaders

Jared Manpin tallied two hits and a RBI to lead the Vikings' offensive attack, while Michael McClain added a double and a run scored. Tyler Bushnell, Gary Grissom, and Austin Bonner also recorded a hit and a RBI for Community.

Bulldog starting pitcher Kolbe McMahon suffered the loss and allowed seven runs, only one earned, on three hits and four walks in two and two-thirds innings of work while notching six strikeouts.

Cornersville, meanwhile, finished with five hits against two Community hurlers. Leadoff hitter Carson Walker went 2-for-3 with two runs scored to pace the Bulldogs at the plate. McMahon added a double and 1 RBI for Cornersville as well, while Ty Landers and Cade Landers both had a single and a RBI.

"Overall we showed some improvement from our first game. We certainly hit the ball better. Hopefully we can build on the positives. We need to get some confidence because sometimes we lose focus during the game," said Bulldog coach Mike Tatum.

Viking starting pitcher Kirk Taylor picked up the win, yielding two runs over four innings on two hits and a walk to go along with four strikeouts.

Early lead

McMahon struck out the side in the top of the first inning before Cornersville plated a run in the bottom half of the frame to grab a 1-0 lead. After reaching base on an error, Vanhooser stole second before advancing to third on a Ty Landers groundout. McMahon then drove in Vanhooser by lacing a two-out double down the left field line.

Community tied the game at 1-1 in the top of the second when McClain scored on a RBI single by Manpin after leading off the inning with a double.

The wheels then came off for the Bulldogs in the top of the third, as Community scored 10 runs in the frame with two outs on the strength of three hits, four walks, three CMS errors, and three hit batsmen to forge an 11-1 lead.

One more score

Cornersville tallied a run in the bottom of the third with the help of a Walker leadoff single, a sacrifice bunt by Vanhooser, and a Ty Landers RBI groundout to trim the deficit to 11-2, but the Vikings pushed across two more runs in the top of the fifth behind a hit and four walks to stretch their lead to 13-2.

In the bottom of the fifth, the Bulldogs trimmed the deficit to 13-3 on a two-out RBI single by Cade Landers, before Community relief pitcher Brayden Stephenson retired the next Cornersville batter on a groundout to keep the mercy rule in effect.