By Brandon Sumrall | Special to the Advertiser

A seventh inning squeeze play decided the game in a 9-8 win for the Isabella varsity baseball team over Verbena on Monday.

The Red Devils got on the board early with a leadoff single by Tristan Short setting up a RBI double by Chris Cook, which gave Verbena an early 1-0 lead.

The lead would not last long as the Mustangs answered with two runs of their own in the home half of the first inning.

After a leadoff ground ball for an out, Dalton Smitherman reached on a walk, Tyler Durham was hit by a pitch, and a Red Devils error loaded the bases for the Mustangs with one out.

Jarrett Baker was hit by a pitch and a walk was issued to Ryan Headley, and the lead became the Mustangs’ at the end of the first inning.

The lead changed hands again in the top of the second inning as a leadoff double by Eric Mims and a single by Bryan Rasberry set up a run-scoring balk. Rasberry later scored on a wild pitch.

A 3-2 Verbena lead going in to the bottom of the second inning did not hold up as three more Mustang runs gave Isabella the lead once again.

A leadoff walk to James Patterson and a single by Smitherman set up a two RBI double by Jacob Davis, and a RBI single by Ethan Wendall gave the Mustangs a 5-3 lead after two innings of play.

A bases loaded ground ball by the Red Devils and Cook striking out the Mustangs in order sent the game to the fourth with Isabella still leading 5-3.

An Isabella error off the bat of Short led to a Verbena run in the top of the fourth to cut the lead to one, but the Mustangs answered with two more runs in the home half of the inning.

A single by Smitherman and Durham being hit by a pitch later saw both score on passed balls at the plate. After four innings of play, Isabella led 7-4.

Errors cost the Mustangs heavily in the top of the fifth as the Red Devils plated four runs in the inning.

Mims started the inning with a single and scored on a Isabella error off the bat of Rasberry. Rasberry later scored on a wild pitch, and another Isabella error off the bat of Cleckler scored Ja’Starza White, who reached on a walk.

A sacrifice bunt by Short brought home Cleckler to give Verbena an 8-7 lead.

A leadoff walk to Headley set up an RBI triple by Kelan Mims to tie the game at 8-all as the game moved to the sixth inning.

A three-up, three-down inning by Verbena in the top of the sixth gave the Mustangs a chance to take back the lead in the bottom half of the inning.

A one out walk to Durham led to a two-out game winning run after a wild pitch by Verbena that sent the game to the top of the seventh with Isabella leading 9-8.

Down to their final three outs and trailing by one, a lead off walk to Mims placed the tying run on first with no outs, and after a steal of second, Mims got moved over to third on a single by White.

With one out and the 2-2 pitch on the way to Cleckler, Mims broke for home while Cleckler laid down a bunt, but the ball was fielded by the pitcher and tossed back to the plate to tag Mims out at the plate.

A relay back to second base caught White for the third out of the inning to give the Mustangs the win.

Jarrett Baker got the start for Isabella and threw four innings, allowing three earned runs, five hits, four walks and recording four strikeouts.

Smitherman led the Mustangs at the plate with a 2-for-3 performance with two singles.

Cook started on the mound for the Red Devils and went four innings with six earned runs, five hits, five walks and eight strikeouts.

Mims led at the plate, going 2-for-2 with a single and a double.