BY CLIFF SMELLEY
Bradford High School’s baseball team dropped its third straight game, losing 8-2 to host Baker County on March 24.
Baker had all of its runs on the board before the Tornadoes (8-9) scored their first, which occurred on a Kaedan Parks single in the top of the sixth.
Ryland Rike batted 3 for 4 with a double, while Breion Johnson and Cannon Sapp each went 2 for 4. Johnson had one RBI, while one of Sapp’s hits was a double.
The Tornadoes went 2-2 in their previous four games.
On March 14, Bradford scored three runs (including two with two outs) in the top of the seventh in defeating host Interlachen 6-4.
Patrick Pendarvis led off the top of the seventh with a single, while Parks was hit by a pitch. Avery Burgin and Nehemiah Flowers each hit an RBI single, with Burgin later scoring on a steal of home.
Burgin, who hit a two-run double in the fifth, finished 2 for 4 with three RBI.
Flowers batted 2 for 3 with two RBI.
Burgin, who entered to pitch with one out in the sixth, earned the win, giving up no runs and one hit.
The Tornadoes got a strong outing from starting pitcher Matthew Stafford in a 6-1 win over visiting Gainesville on March 17.
Stafford gave up an unearned run and six hits, while striking out eight through 6.1 innings.
Sapp faced the final two batters, striking one of them out.
Burgin and Johnson each drove in a run as part of a three-run third.
Rike and Pendarvis hit an RBI single and an RBI triple, respectively, as part of a two-run sixth.
Pendarvis finished with three RBI, batting 3 for 3.
Burgin, Johnson and Rike each had one RBI, with Rike batting 2 for 3.
A seventh-inning rally fell short in a 7-4 loss at Wolfson on March 18.
Trailing 7-2, Thompson and Flowers reached on a single and a walk, respectively, to lead off the top of the final inning. After two straight strikeouts, Pendarvis hit an RBI double. Johnson walked to load the bases before Flowers scored on a steal of home. A strikeout then ended the game.
Pendarvis and Thompson each had one RBI, with Thompson batting 2 for 3.
Bradford scored the first run against host Hilliard on March 20, but the Tornadoes finished with only two hits in what was an 11-1 loss.
One of the hits was a single by Sapp, which scored Pendarvis (who walked) in the top of the first.
The Tornadoes travel to play Hamilton County on Tuesday, March 25, at 6 p.m. and will host St. John Lutheran on Thursday, March 27, at 6 p.m. Bradford hosts Middleburg on Monday, March 31, at 7 p.m. before traveling to play Williston on Tuesday, April 1, at 7 p.m.
