In what was perhaps their most complete game of the season, the Quitman Bulldogs defeated the visiting Alba-Golden Panthers 9-4 on Tuesday, April 2, at Tom Brady Park.

Quitman Head Baseball Coach Jimmy Smith summarized the game, “We got a great effort from (pitcher) Ben (Burroughs), solid defense behind him, and we put the ball in play.”

Bulldog lead-off hitter Riley Flannagen cracked a single to start the Bulldogs at the plate. Flannagen went 3-for-4 on the night and came around to score in the bottom of the first. Trey Berry, who reached after being hit by a Jacob Dailey pitch, also rounded the bases and Quitman had a 2-0 lead after one.

Quitman starter Burroughs shut down the Panthers in the first three innings, striking out four and allowing only two baserunners. The Bulldogs added two runs in the bottom of the second thanks to aggressive base-running and a two-RBI single by Flannagen. The Bulldogs made it a 5-run lead in the third after Burroughs reached on a walk, stole second and third bases and scored on a passed ball.

The Panthers did not make the trip to Quitman for naught. They put up three runs on four hits in the fourth inning. Alba-Golden closed the score at 5-3 heading into the bottom of the fourth.

Quitman responded. The Bulldogs leveraged three base hits, including a double by Wyatt McClanahan, three stolen bases, two free passes and a fielder’s choice to chalk up four runs in the inning. The fourth took the steam out of the Panthers, and built a 6-run lead for Quitman.

Alba-Golden put one run on the board in the seventh, but Burroughs largely shut the visitors down in the late innings, limiting the Panthers to three baserunners.

The loss masked a very good outing by Panther starter Jacob Dailey. Dailey spread seven hits, walked two and struck out 10. Burroughs gave up six hits, issued one walk and struck out seven.