After battling their way back from a loss to Bamberg-Ehrhardt in an earlier round of the playoffs, Latta’s Vikings swept the Red Raiders 8-0 on Wednesday night, forcing a second game where they fell 7-6 as Bamberg claimed the District V title.
In game one, Latta held off the Red Raiders through seven innings while scoring three runs in the top of the third, two in the fourth, and three in the sixth for the 8-0 win. The Vikings had eight hits in the win, while Bamberg-Ehrhardt had four hits and eight errors for the Vikings to capitalize on.
Travis Powers picked up the win for Latta, pitching all seven innings for three hits and four outs.
Josh Bowen led the Vikings at bat, going 2-for-5 with an RBI, while John Kever Love went 1-for-5 with two RBI. Travis Powers and Donell Stanley also had RBIs, and Ben Scott made 10 putouts for Latta and was in the middle of three double plays.
Game two saw the Red Raiders buckle down a bit, with each team getting a run to start the game 1-1. Latta scored another run in the top of the third and added two more in the top of the fourth, capitalizing on errors from the Red Raiders to lead 4-1. The Red Raiders added one more run in the bottom of the inning, but Latta picked up two more runs in the top of the sixth to lead 6-2.
But in the bottom of the seventh, Bamberg-Ehrhardt got an RBI single from Sumner Cooler, scored two runs off a throwing error from Latta’s Ben Scott, and got another off an errant throw by catcher Ben Owens to tie things up 6-6. With two outs, Garrett Zeigler singled to cap the five run rally and give the Red Raiders the walk-off win.
Bamberg-Ehrhardt had eight hits and five errors in the win, while Latta had eight hits and four errors.
Donell Stanley and River Owens led Latta at bat with RBI singles. Christian Hendrix pitched relief for the Vikings.
Latta finished the season 17-7 overall and a 9-3 record in Region 8-A.
