Not a lot went right for Chattanooga Christian's baseball team against Central Magnet on Wednesday.
The Chargers committed eight errors on their way to an 11-1 home loss in the Region 4-AA championship, which ended in five innings.
"It started yesterday," Chattanooga Christian coach Joel Johnson said. "After that high Monday night (a 3-2 win over Upperman in the semifinals), we were flat yesterday (in practice), and we were flat today. Central Magnet 100 percent came ready to play, and a lot of times this year we've turned that page in the game, but tonight we never did.
"It was evident early we were in trouble."
The Tigers' first three batters got on base to start the night. The third, Darek Sargent, singled to score McKenzie Jackson, who reached on an error. Another error led to a second run.
A throwing error led to two more runs in the second instead of ending the inning, and the visitors tacked on four more in the third thanks in part to three more Chargers mistakes.
"We were not good, and they were," Johnson said. "Our assistant coach told them they have to have the mentality that you can't let someone come in here and take something from us. We let them take something tonight."
Central Magnet's lead swelled to 9-0 before the Chargers managed a response. Dylan Jenkins was in control on the mound for most of the night, but scuffled in the fourth. He walked Josh Taylor to start the inning and walked the bases loaded after getting two outs. Jon Hundley then ripped a single to left to score Taylor. Another potential run was thrown out at the plate.
Hundley went 2-for-2 to celebrate his birthday.
In the fifth, Jackson singled and scored on another Sargent RBI single. Wes Duffield added the final run with a sacrifice fly, and Jenkins took care of the rest in the bottom half to pick up his first high school win.
"That's been our strength all year, is creating pressure," Central Magnet coach Jason Patterson said. "We run well, and our guys are aggressive on the basepaths."
Weather permitting, Chattanooga is scheduled to get another crack Friday.
"We'll see how the guys respond mentally. The track record has been good," Johnson said.