After winning a pair of big games against District rival Spring Hill earlier in the week, the Marshall County Tigers (11-6) were unable to maintain that emotional peak on Friday night when they dropped a 6-1 decision to the Columbia Central Lions (14-4) at home.

The game was tied 1-1 at the end of the first inning, but the Tigers failed to cross home plate again while Columbia scored five runs over the final six frames to claim their 14th win of the season.

Marshall County finished with nine hits and a walk against Lion starting pitcher Jonathan Davis and reliever Briar Hight, but went just 1-for-5 with runners in scoring position and grounded into two double plays.

Missing hits

"We just ran into a good team and didn't get any key hits when we needed them. We hit the ball hard, but we hit it right at them," said MCHS coach Steve Reese. "We had two emotional games against Spring Hill so we were a little flat, but I was still happy with the way that we competed."

Ryan McDaniel tallied two hits to lead the Tigers at the plate, while starting hurler Hayden Bailey, Matt Sharp, Dylan McKnight, Chandler Harmon, Zack Kirby, Ryan Richardson, and Bubba Houghton all had one hit.

Bailey also suffered the loss on the mound after allowing five runs over six innings on 11 hits to go along five strikeouts. McDaniel came on in relief of Bailey and yielded one run in one inning on two hits.

"Hayden pitched well, but Columbia made some adjustments at the plate against him as the game went on," said Reese.

Lion leader

Designated hitter Alex Webb wielded the biggest bat in the Lions lineup and went 4-for-4 with a double, 4 RBI, and a run scored. Dylan Myers (1 RBI), Matthew Markham (1 RBI), and Vanderbilt signee Hayden Stone notched two hits apiece for Columbia as well.

Davis picked up the victory on the mound for the Lions and gave up one unearned run in five innings of work on five hits and a walk.

Columbia grabbed a 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning when Hayden Holt scored on a two-out RBI single by Webb after singling and stealing second.

Marshall County then tied the game at 1-1 by pushing across a run in the bottom half of the frame. After reaching base on an error, Hobbs advanced to third on a Sharp sacrifice bunt and a groundout by McKnight before sprinting home on a two-out RBI single by Bailey.

Game slips away

In the top of the third, the Lions began to take control of the contest by plating three runs in the frame with the help of a leadoff single by Stone, a Myers RBI double, a bloop single by Cameron Bair, and a Webb two-run single to open up a 4-1 advantage.

Columbia Central then tallied a run in the sixth inning on a RBI single by Markham to push their lead to 5-1 before tacking on an insurance run in the top of the seventh thanks to a Webb RBI single to forge a 6-1 lead.

The Tigers tried to mount a rally attempt in the bottom of the seventh and put runners on second and third with one out on the strength of a leadoff single by Kirby and a Houghton double, but Hight retired the next two MCHS batters on a pair of groundouts to wrap up the win for the Lions.