Marietta third baseman Carter Hutchinson fields a throw from catcher Owen Warden as Caldwell’s Cam Sidwell dives back to third base during Friday’s game at Legion Field. (Photo by Mike Morrison)

Leading by a run in the top of the sixth inning the Marietta Tigers gave the Caldwell Redskins an additional out.

Credit the Redskins for taking full advantage of their new life as they went on to score four times en route to a 7-5 win over the Tigers Friday evening at Legion Field.

Caldwell had tied the game at 4-4 and had two men on base when lead-off batter Cam Sidwell reached on a Tiger fielding error.

That loaded the bases and Redskins center fielder Kyler Starr brought them all home with an opposite double to left field to give the ‘Skins a 7-4 lead.

“We struggled early on but we kept battling and our pitchers kept us in the game,” said Caldwell head coach Derek Sidwell. “Hats off to our kids for hanging in there until we were able to get that big hit.”

Marietta catcher Owen Warden fields a throw as Caldwell’s Izic Cool slides safely into home plate during Friday’s game at Legion Field. (Photo by Mike Morrison)

The game was full of base on balls and stolen bases early in the ball game with each team taking advantage of plenty of free bases.

Caldwell scored first in the opening inning off of MHS starting pitcher Zach Birge when Cam Sidwell walked, stole second and then stole third and came into score when the throw was errant and went down the left field line.

The Tigers tied things up off of starting pitcher Cam Sidwell in the bottom of the second when designated hitter Bryson Chidester walked, moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by Jeremiah Loughry and to third on an infield groundout by Malachi Booker before scoring on a wild pitch.

The Redskins would jump back in front in the top of third and they did so without a single base hit.

With one out Sidwell walked again and once again stole second and third before scoring on a Birge wild pitch.

One out later Izic Coll walked and also stole second and third.

With Cool on third base, second baseman Jake Laswell also walked and never broke stride as he ran to first base before stopping halfway between first and second.

When Birge took a few steps towards Laswell, Cool broke for home and scored when Birge’s throw was off of the mark to give Caldwell a 3-1 lead.

The trend of allowing their opponents free bases has been a thorn in the side of the Tigers all season long.

“We have just got to eliminate giving up the free bases,” said second-year Tiger head coach Kail Hill. “They put pressure on us and made us make plays and we weren’t able to make them.”

Marietta answered in their half of the third inning as they scored three times to take their first lead of the game.

Will Tornes got things started by drawing a base on balls before moving to second on Birge’s sacrifice bunt.

Tornes then broke for third and came into score when the throw was off the mark cutting the deficit to a single run.

Seth Goeller followed by drawing a walk and Carter Hutchinson was hit by a pitch.

After the Tigers pulled off a double steal, Coach Sidwell elected to pull Cam Sidwell from the mound and summoned Cool in from shortstop to pitch.

Elijah McLeish greeted Cool with an RBI single to plate Goeller with the second run of the inning.

The Tigers added a third run on a safety squeeze bunt by Loughry that brought home Hutchinson to give them a 4-3 lead.

Hill brought Loughry into pitch to begin the fourth inning and he held the Redskins in check in the fourth and fifth innings before things unraveled in the top of the sixth.

Third baseman Lucas Baker led off the inning for Caldwell by drawing a walk and was forced out at second on an infield grounder by Guiler Preston.

The Tigers got the second out of the inning when Jonah Moracco sacrificed Preston to second base.

Kayle Holt was hit by a pitch and Silas Cain followed with an RBI single up the middle to plate Preston with the tying run.

Hill replaced Loughry on the bump with Adam Barnett and the new Tiger pitcher got Sidwell to hit the ball on the infield only to have the Tigers boot the ball to load the bases.

Starr made them pay for their miscue in the biggest way as he drove a ball to deep left field over the head of the Tiger left fielder as all three runners crossed the plate.

“I was really glad to see that kid (Starr) come through in such a big moment because he has been struggling a little bit,” said Sidwell. “He kind of started to come out of it a bit yesterday against Meadowbrook and then that hit tonight was huge.”

The Tigers got one of those runs back in the bottom of the inning when Loughry singled and eventually came around to score on a Birge sacrifice fly.

Marietta would put their first two runners on base in the bottom of the seventh but Cool got Chidester to hit a hard grounder right back to him that he turned into a 1-6-3 double play and then retired Loughry on an infield grounder for the final out of the game.

The win improved Caldwell’s season mark to 9-10 and gives them a little momentum as they head into their OHSAA tournament opener Monday when they host arch-rival Shenandoah.

“We played a really tough schedule this year and really challenged the guys and we responded to some and didn’t respond to others,” said Sidwell. “We’ve been battling and now we have Shenandoah coming in on Monday so we will see what happens.”

Marietta slipped to 9-16 on the season with the loss as they prepare to travel to Jackson Wednesday night for their playoff opener.

“This team is very resilient and I have a lot of confidence in them,” said Hill. “We are going up against a team that has a really good record in Jackson but I really feel confident that we can come out of there with a victory.”

The Tigers celebrated their two seniors in Tornes and Birge prior to the game and their head coach had high praise for his departing seniors.

“Will (Tornes) has been a four-year starter and works his butt off every single day,” said Hill. “This is Zach Birge’s first year and he has been very versatile and done everything we asked him to do.”

MHS 013 001 0 — 5 3 2

WP: Izic Cool: 4.2 IP, 2H, ER, 5BB, 3SO

Cam Sidwell: 2.1 IP, H, 4ER, 4BB, SO

LP: Jeremiah Loughry: 2.2 IP, 2H, 3R, ER, 2BB, SO

Zach Birge: 3IP, H, 3R, 2ER, 5BB, 4SO

Adam Barnett: 1.1 IP, 2H, R, 0ER

Caldwell (9-10) hitting: Kyler Starr 2-4, 3RBI, 2B, Lucas Baker 1-3, Guiler Preston 1-3, R, Silas Cain 1-3, R, RBI, Cam Sidwell 0-2, 3R, 4SB.

Marietta (9-16) hitting: Will Tornes 1-1, R, 3SB, Elijah McLeish 1-3, RBI, Jeremiah Loughry 1-2, R, RBI, Zach Birge 0-1, RBI, SF.

Next games: OHSAA Tournament: Shenandoah at Caldwell, Monday; Marietta at Jackson Wednesday