It was a tough week for the Dawson County High School varsity baseball team as they lost three close games to Greater Atlanta Christian.

The Tigers lost 2-0 at Greater Atlanta March 12, followed by a 13-12 defeat at home on Thursday and a 16-6 loss on the road on Friday in a game that was much closer than the final score would indicate.

Despite the 2-0 series-opening loss, the Tigers (5-9, 1-5 Region 7-AAA) outhit the Spartans six to three, but Greater Atlanta (8-5, 4-2 Region 7-AAA) was able to manufacture a run in the first and one more in the sixth to steal the game.

Both pitchers pitched a complete game with Dawson County’s Chandler Caine allowing two runs on three hits with six strikeouts.

Unlike Monday’s pitcher’s duel, the home-and-home Thursday and Friday saw a combined 48 hits over the course of the two games.

In their home loss on Thursday, the Tigers surrendered five runs in the top half of the first inning but bounced back with four runs of their own in the bottom half of the inning including a two-run homerun by Palmer Sapp who went 3-for-4 with four RBIs in the game.

After the teams scored three runs apiece over the next three innings, Greater Atlanta broke the game open with five runs in the fifth inning to go up 13-7. The Spartans appeared to have the game in hand, but once again the Tigers answered in the bottom half of the same inning, soring three runs with two coming off a two-run homerun by Hunter Barron (2-for-4, 2 RBIs, HR).

With the game now 13-10, Dawson County was able to keep the Spartans off the scoreboard in the final two innings, only allowing a single hit. Down three in the bottom of the seventh inning, Nate Sorrells (2-for-4, 2 RBIs, HR) hit a two-run homerun to cut the Spartan lead to one. However, the Tigers could not find the final run needed to complete the comeback, falling 13-12.

The following day at Greater Atlanta, the Tigers found themselves trailing after the first inning for the third straight game. After a scoreless second and down 3-1, the Tigers scored four in the third to take a 5-3 lead.

It was a brief lead, however, as the Spartans scored two in the bottom of the third to tie the game at five. Then in the bottom of the fourth inning, the Spartans unloaded the bats to score seven runs on five hits to go up 12-5.

Unlike Thursday, Dawson County couldn’t answer this time, scoring just one run over their final three innings with only a single hit. Greater Atlanta scored four runs in the sixth to end the game early via the mercy rule, 16-6.

This week the Tigers face Union County, with a home game on March 19 followed by an away game tonight at 5:55 p.m. and a home game Friday at the same time.