By David Palmer

Published: April 26, 2008

The Marianna High School baseball team captured the district championship Thursday night before a packed crowd at Bulldog Field with a 6-5 win over the Chipley Tigers.

The is the Bulldogs first district championship since 2003.

Southpaw Kyle Edwards got the nod on the mound for the Bulldogs with Troy Clemmons coming on in relief.

With two outs in the top of the first inning, two walks and an error was followed by a single that led to two runs for the Chipley Tigers. In the bottom of the inning, the Bulldogs countered with three runs to make it a 3-2 game.

Tyler Wilson singled to start things off and moved to third on when Brandon Gardner reached on an error. Gardner was out on an attempted steal of second. Adam Bigale took one for the team to put runners on the corners.

Following a strikeout to Jon Sims, Clemmons connected for an RBI single that scored Wilson. Lance Bailey drew a walk to put runners at first and second to set the stage for Colby Johnson’s two RBI double. A fly out to centerfield by Dustin Larkin ended the inning.

Chipley started the second inning with back-to-back singles but Edwards retired the next three batters to leave them stranded on the bags. In the bottom half of the second, Rhyne Elliott got the Bulldogs started with a double and moved to third on a Wilson single.

Gardner sacrificed Elliott home and Bigale came through with an RBI sacrifice scoring Wilson.

Chipley and Marianna were both three up and three down in the third inning.

In the top of the fourth, two singles, two walks and an error plated three runs to tie the game at five. Wilson’s single was the only offense in the bottom of the fourth.

With the game tied in the bottom of the seventh inning, Marianna took advantage of Wilson’s speed who led off the inning with a single.

Gardner’s sacrifice Wilson to second. An intentional walk to designated hitter Adam Bigale was followed by a sacrifice fly to right field by Sims. Wilson scored on an errant throw home to win the game and capture the district championship.

The win had special meaning for senior Jeremy Barber whose brother Jason was a senior and helped lead the Bulldogs to their last state championship in his 2003 senior year.

The Bulldogs will return to Bulldog Field Tuesday night as they host the semi-regional game with first pitch slated for 7 p.m.