It would be safe to say that the Boyd-Buchanan baseball team got a little bit embarrassed Monday afternoon at Silverdale.
The Buccaneers played bad defense as the Seahawks exploded at the plate with four home runs en route to a convincing 15-7 victory in a key game among District 5-A leaders.
It was a totally different situation at Boyd-Buchanan on Tuesday.
The Bucs improved to 12-4 overall and 5-2 in the district with an impressive 7-2 win, handing the Seahawks their first district loss after five straight wins and sixth defeat in 16 games overall.
Brandon Willingham was probably the most responsible party for Tuesday's turnaround as he went the distance, allowing seven hits while striking out nine and walking just two.
He was also instrumental with his bat as he smacked three doubles in three plate appearances and drove in three runs to insure victory for his team.
"Today's game went well, a whole lot better than yesterday," Willingham said after improving to 7-0 with the complete-game performance.
"I feel like I threw the ball better today than I have all season as I was able to get ahead early in the count and keeping my pitch count low. And I thought we were more relaxed as I told the guys yesterday they had better be ready to battle today.
"We had a good day and our defense played well too," he added.
The Seahawks got on the board in their first at-bat as Tyler Mossburg reached on an infield hit. He stole second and third before scoring on a two-out single by Blake Howard.
By the time Noah Rogers drove in Collin Daniell with a bases-loaded infield hit in the fourth, the Bucs had a 4-1 lead and were well on their way to a big win.
"Today was good and I'm really proud of the way we bounced back after yesterday," said Boyd-Buchanan coach Taylor Gilley following a brief chat with his guys after the two-hour game ended.
"I didn't think we played that bad yesterday, but it was just their day. But we came out competitive and ready to play and I thought that Brandon did a heckuva job on the mound. He was totally into the game and never got rattled, even when they had runners on base.
"We are continuing to get better, but I can promise you we can still play better than that," the coach concluded with a smile.
While the Seahawks scored first, the Bucs came back to tie it in the bottom of the first.
Cade Evans led off with a hit to left that he hustled into a double. He stole third and scored on a groundout by E.J. Matthews.
A Silverdale error and a sacrifice fly by Thomas Baker in the second plated two more runs for the Buccaneers and you could almost see the confidence level change when they took the lead.
Seth Rogers had a two-out double in the third and scored on Willingham's second double into the game in right-center for a 4-1 lead after three innings.
Rogers had the RBI-single in the fourth for the Seahawks, but they left the bases loaded when Mossburg had a fielders choice as Michael Hawkins was tagged out at third.
Silverdale had another opportunity in the fifth as Alex Gonzalez and Howard both stroked one-out singles. The inning ended in a strange way when Sawyer Junkins lifted a lazy fly to shallow left, but Gonzalez was forced out at third before the relay doubled up Howard at second.
That was Silverdale's last chance as Willingham retired the side in order in the sixth and seventh innings.
Meanwhile, the Bucs put a little icing on the cake with three runs in their half of the fifth, the first two coming on Willingham's third double with the last one coming on a sacrifice fly by Cooper Hodge.
Silverdale coach Jonathan Adcock felt like his team's lack of defense was a factor in Tuesday's loss.
"They were able to get big hits when they needed them as the breaks just went their way today," he began his post-game comments.
"Brandon Willingham did a nice job and he's proving that he's more than a fastball pitcher. But I wasn't happy with our defense as we were slow on some of our relays. We're still in first place in the district, but defense has to be flawless when you're playing a team like Boyd-Buchanan," headed.
Howard was the only Silverdale player with two hits as the Seahawks finished with seven for the game.
Willingham was the only Boyd-Buchanan player with three as five others had one each.
Mossburg was the losing pitcher after being charged with six runs on six hits. He was replaced by Chase Cook with one out in the fifth.
SILVERDALE 100 100 0 -- 2 7 1
BOYD-BUCHANAN 121 030 x -- 7 8 0
Mossburg, Cook (5) and Spencer; Willingham and Hodge.
(Email John Hunt at nomarathonmoose@gmail.com)