The Biloxi Indians saw their baseball season come to an end on Tuesday in a winner-take-all loss at Brandon in the first round of the Class 7A playoffs.
The Bulldogs (20-13) took a 10-0 Game Three win over the Indians (18-12) in five innings.
Brandon moves on to the next round and will take on Ocean Springs in a best-of-three series that begins on Friday. The Greyhounds (18-10) clobbered Petal 12-4 on Tuesday in Game Three of their series.
After Brandon took a 7-3 Game One win on Friday against Biloxi, the Indians bounced back on Saturday with a 5-1 home victory to force the decisive third game.
The Indians took a 4-0 lead in the second inning of Game Two on a bases-loaded hit batsman, a walk, and a two-run double delivered by Connor Lofton.
Will Miles went the distance on the mound for Biloxi, allowing one run on five hits while striking out two. He didn’t surrender a walk.
Lofton had three of Biloxi’s four hits in the game, including the two-run double. But the Indians capitalized on seven walks, led by Logan Fontanelle with three.
In the Game One loss, Fontanelle had a solo homer to pace a seven-hit Biloxi attack.
With the game tied 2-2 after four innings, Brandon put up three runs in the fifth to take the lead and added a couple of insurance runs in the sixth.
Walker Hooks led Brandon, striking out 11 batters on the mound and driving in four runs on three hits.
Despite being knocked out of the postseason, Biloxi certainly had a season they can be proud of.
“Obviously, it didn’t end the way how we wanted, but I’m really proud of this group and how they grew over the course of the season,” said Biloxi coach Hawtin Buchanan. “They did a good job of continuing to fight no matter the highs or the lows throughout the year, and that’s a big-time credit to our senior class and their leadership.”
Biloxi is seeing 10 seniors moving on, including Fontanelle, Miles, Chase DeLaughter, Forrest Wold, Judson Byars, Robbie Hokamp, Hunter Newbaker, Carlos Hurtado, Brennan Massey, and Jaxson Boudreaux.
“They’ve set a great example of how to lead on a daily basis for our younger groups going forward,” said Buchanan.