BY CLIFF SMELLEY
Bradford High School’s baseball team rallied from a 6-0 deficit and took a lead it wouldn’t relinquish until Class 5A Middleburg scored seven runs in the seventh in handing the Tornadoes a 19-17 loss on March 31 in Starke.
The Class 3A Tornadoes (10-10) were attempting to win their third in a row.
Middleburg scored five runs in the top of the third to go up 6-0, but Bradford answered with eight runs in the bottom of the inning. Kaedan Parks hit a leadoff single, while Jaxson Carter and Ryland Rike were both hit by pitches to load the bases. A sacrifice fly by Patrick Pendarvis and an error on the play scored two runs. Breion Johnson and Connor Sapp were both hit by pitches to load the bases again. Avery Burgin hit an RBI single, while Nehemiah Flowers drew a bases-loaded walk.
The inning continued despite Bradford getting a second out on a strikeout. A balk forced a run in before a Parks single drove in another to tie the score at 6-6. Carter then hit a two-run double.
Pendarvis and Johnson singled and walked, respectively, to lead off the bottom of the fourth. Sapp hit an RBI single, followed by Burgin hitting into a double play that allowed Johnson to score. Flowers walked, while Ryder Thompson was hit by a pitch. Parks then hit a two-run double, giving Bradford a 12-7 lead.
It was 13-7 going into the sixth. The Broncos scored five runs, taking advantage of four hits, two errors, a passed ball and a walk.
Carter and Pendarvis tripled and singled, respectively, as each drove in a run in the bottom of the sixth, putting the Tornadoes up 15-12.
Middleburg’s seven-run seventh included runs scored on two bases-loaded walks, a passed ball and a wild pitch.
Flowers put the final runs on the board with a two-run homer in the bottom of the seventh.
Pendarvis and Parks batted 3 for 4 and 3 for 5, respectively, with each driving in two runs.
Carter went 2 for 3 with three RBI, while Sapp was 2 for 4 with two RBI.
Flowers finished with three RBI, while Burgin had one.
Bradford went 2-0 in its previous two games, beginning with a 15-4, five-inning win at Hamilton County on March 25.
It was a 3-3 game until the Tornadoes scored three runs in the second. Pendarvis and Rike each drove in a run, while another scored on an error.
Pendarvis, Rike and Thompson each drove in a run as part of a six-run third, which also had Jaron Hale and Matthew Stafford getting hit by pitches with the bases loaded and runs also scored on an error and a passed ball.
Burgin and Thompson each drove in a run in a three-run fifth and finished with two RBI each.
Pendarvis and Rike also had two RBI each, with Rike batting 2 for 4.
Stafford drove in one run.
Burgin pitched a complete game, giving up four unearned runs, six hits and no walks, while striking out eight.
On March 27, the Tornadoes hosted St. John Lutheran, winning 9-1 despite having only four hits.
Bradford scored five runs on passed balls and another two on an error.
Rike, who hit an RBI double as part of a three-run fourth, went 2 for 4.
Stafford, who had one RBI, started on the mound, allowing one run and four hits through 5.1 innings. He had eight strikeouts.
Taylor Bice threw the remainder of the game, giving up no hits and striking out three.
Bradford plays at Williston on Tuesday, April 1, at 7 p.m. and will travel to play Keystone Heights on Thursday, April 3, at 7 p.m. The Tornadoes return home to play P.K. Yonge on Tuesday, April 8, at 7 p.m.
