If he wasn't a proponent of the move that's afoot among numerous Tennessee baseball coaches to change to a best-of-three postseason format, Silverdale Baptist's Gray Ange likely changed his mind Saturday.
"I don't want to take anything away from them, but I think we beat those guys in a best-two-of-three," he said after his Seahawks lost 10-1 to visiting Gordonsville in a one-game Class A sectional.
Sure, Ange was feeling his players' pain, but he has a good example for discussions after the loss to the Region 4 runners-up.
As it is, though, Gordonsville's Tigers (20-12) will be playing in Murfreesboro this week after making their longest trip of the season Saturday - 142 miles one way - on a traditional non-air- conditioned school bus.
"We'd make a trip like that every time for a win," said first-year Tigers coach Keith Goolsby.
For the most part, all he had to do was fill out the lineup card and attend the traditional pregame meeting with the umpires.
His pitcher, Hunter Mann, a yet-to-fill-out sophomore, earned his sixth win of the season and pitched five scoreless innings before surrendering a home run to the Seahawks' Alex Gonzalez.
Goolsby's offense picked apart Silverdale pitching with every batter getting at least one hit. Senior Bobby Parliment was 3-for-3 with a homer and two RBIs, while Adam Goolsby and Hunter Davis also drove in two runs each. Joey Parliment, Bobby's younger brother, and Luke Blackburn also had RBIs.
And it seemed every time Silverdale (21-6) made an error - and the Seahawks had five - the Tigers took advantage.
"I told the boys the number on the scoreboard that mattered the most and would likely determine the winner was the one on the right (errors made)," Coach Goolsby said.
"The breaks went our way and Mann pitched a heck of a game," he added.
"It's hard to see our seniors that have worked so hard go out in a game like that, but we played a little tight and Gordonsville didn't feel that," Ange said.
Down 2-0 but very much in the game, the Seahawks let golden opportunities slip through away in the second and third innings. In the second, they got the first two runners on but the lead man was caught too far off the bag by Tigers catcher Justin Vadon, and Tigers shortstop Joey Parliment initiated an inning-ending double play. The Seahawks loaded the bases in the third, but Mann stranded them with back-to-back strikeouts.
Gordonsville scored three fifth-inning runs (one earned) and then broke the game open in the sixth with five of its 10 hits.
Contact Ward Gossett at wgossett@timesfree press.com or 423-886-4765. Follow him on Twitter @ wardgossett.