Bronaugh edged by Miami in district tourney, 13-11, denied breakthrough victory

WALKER — It’s been a long, winding road for the Bronaugh Wildcat baseball program.

A valiant effort came up just short in opening-round play of the Class 1 District 8 tournament on Tuesday, as the No. 5 seed Wildcats were nipped by the No. 4 Miami Eagles, 13-11.

Hungry for the program's breakthrough victory, Bronaugh entered the district tournament on a 26-game losing skid, with their last victory coming on April 15, 2016.

Bronaugh trailed early, as Miami jumped out to a 5-1 lead through two innings of play, and then increased their advantage to 10-4 at the conclusion of the third. The Wildcats then charged back, as a seven-run fifth put Bronaugh on top, 11-10.

Miami (3-11), however, struck back with a pair of runs in the home-half of the fifth, and then tacked a run on in the sixth, for a 13-11 lead. Bronaugh (0-13) was unable to counter offensively in the sixth and seventh, with their season coming to a close in heartbreaking fashion.

“All I can say is, how proud I am of our young men this season, and especially their effort tonight,” said third-year Bronaugh head coach Jarred Alexander. “All season long we have struggled when adversity hits. We haven't been able to stop the bleeding when it starts, and a bad inning has gotten the best of us.”

Alexander said that heading into the contest the overriding message relayed to his cub was that of displaying “toughness.”

“When faced with adversity in baseball, be tough and fight to get through it,” recounted Alexander of his pre-game pep talk. “That is a life lesson. If you can learn to handle adversity on the athletic field you will be ready to stand up and face challenges in your life.”

Added Alexander, “and tonight, we did that. Behind our senior leadership, we were able to fight back into the game and take a lead in the top of the fifth inning. Unfortunately, we were not able to hang on to it. We are really going to miss the leadership of our four seniors. They have taken on their roles as leaders on our team, embraced them, and did a fantastic job.”