Tate Edges Navarre On Military Appreciation Night

Tate and Navarre paid tribute and recognition to the military during Tuesday night’s game. Photo from @TateAggiesBaseball.

As part of Military Appreciation Night, all former and active military got into Tuesday night’s baseball game between the Navarre Raiders and Tate Aggies free of charge. They were treated to a heckuva good game.

Tate took control early, before the Raiders stormed back to keep it exciting. But the host Aggies held on in the end for a 7-6 victory. Tate (9-9) snapped a six-game losing streak to get the team back to .500, while Navarre (6-12) lost its fourth straight.

A three-run first inning put the Aggies in the lead with their first swings, and they managed to stay ahead the rest of the way. Mason Land walked to start the first, and he scored thanks to an RBI double from Conner Hassell. Ketch King then dropped down a bunt and reached with a base hit to put runners on the corners, and Cole McNair came through with an RBI single to bring Hassell home. An error allowed King to cross the plate and push it to a 3-0 advantage.

Free Entry For Military for Tuesday’s game.

After drawing first blood, both sides continued to slug back-and-forth the rest of the way. When one scored, the other quickly responded. Navarre cut the deficit in half with a run in the second, as Ashton Sieg doubled and then scored on an RBI ground out from Dylan Smith. But Tate came right back for two more runs in the third, as Bray Touchstone scored off an RBI sac-fly from Clif Quiggins, and King scored again thanks to an RBI double from McNair.

The Raiders retaliated with one swing of the bat, as Cole Crocker slugged a solo home run with two outs in the top of the fifth.

Once again it was McNair who supplied the return fire, as he lined an RBI single to center that drove home Quiggins with the winning run in the bottom of the fifth. McNair was 3-for-3 on the night.

Navarre did not go away quietly. The Raiders inched closer with a run in the sixth on an RBI single from Gabe Mitchell that plated Logan Hand, after they loaded up the bases when Logan Hand singled and both Smith and Ace Demotts were hit by a pitch.

Down to their final three outs in the seventh, Navarre mounted one final rally attempt. Sieg was hit by a pitch and Crocked connected for his second hit of the game with a single to left that drove Sieg home and put the tying run on base. Logan Hand then put a solid swing on an 0-1 offering to put it in play when it was needed the most, but the ball was lined right to the center fielder for the final put out that closed out the contest.

Leave a comment using your facebook account!