By Brandon Sumrall/Special to the Advertiser 

In two closely contested contests, the Chilton County Tigers baseball team came up just short on Wednesday evening in losses to the Bibb County Choctaws (2-1 in Game 1, 8-5 in Game 2).

It took eight innings to break a 1-1 tie in Game 1, but with the bases loaded in the top of the eighth inning, a squeeze play gave the Choctaws a 2-1 lead.

With the bases still loaded, the Choctaws tried the same play again, but a pop up was hauled in by third baseman Tolliver Gilliland, who then stepped on third base to bring an end to the inning.

A two-out single by Garren Minor did little to help the Tigers, as a ground ball back to the mound brought the game to a close and gave the Choctaws the win in Game 1.

Game 2 got underway with both teams stranding base runners through the first two and a half innings before the Tigers broke the scoreless game by scoring three runs in the bottom half of the third inning.

Minor started the inning with a shot down the right field line for a stand-up triple that led to a run-scoring single by Jacob Skinner.

Skinner later scored on a Keaton Sullivan infield ground ball, and Dustin Cleckler drove in Corbin Bice, who reached on a bunt, to give the Tigers a 3-0 lead.

The Choctaws answered with two runs of their own in the top of the fourth to cut the Tigers lead to one, 3-2.

The Tigers added one more run in the bottom half of the fourth inning when a Minor single to the right side scored Cade Hatch, who reached on an error by the Choctaws.

After four, the Tigers led, 4-2.

The Choctaws answered the Tigers’ run with a run of their own in the top of the fifth, when a Dyllan Suttle double to start the inning led to a sacrifice fly to right by Matthew Hoitt to bring the score to 4-3.

With the Tigers going in order in the bottom half of the fifth inning, the Choctaws tied things up in the top of the sixth when a leadoff walk came back to haunt the Tigers.

A two-out single to centerfield scored Ronnie Fondren to tie the game at 4-all.

The Tigers took the lead back in the bottom half of the sixth when Gilliland scored on a Hatch infield ground ball to give the Tigers a 5-4 lead going to the seventh inning.

The Choctaws answered, scoring a pair to give Bibb County a 6-5 lead going to the bottom of the seventh inning.

Down to their final three outs and in a one-run deficit, a ground ball back to the pitcher, followed by two strikeouts brought the game to an end for the Tigers.

Minor led the Tigers at the plate with a 2-for-4 performance with a single, triple and an RBI.

Minor also got the start on the mound for the Tigers, pitching five innings while allowing two earned runs on four hits, with three walks and recording three strikeouts.