After a strong 9-0 start the Bainbridge baseball team dropped a pair of games this week against Leon (Tallahassee) and Westover.

Tuesday’s game against Leon saw the Bearcats lose 12-2 in five innings.

Pitcher Paul Cunningham struck out eight Bearcats, allowing five hits and two runs from Carson Inlow and Clark Wiggins.

“Leon hit the ball and did a good job,” Coach Brian McCorkle said. “They started a guy on the mound and we struggled a little bit. They just had a better day than we did.”

The lead stayed with the Lions after the second, when they scored two runs on an RBI double by Davis and an RBI single by Jay Daughtry.

After pushing across one run in the top of the third, Bainbridge faced just a 2-1 deficit. An RBI single by Strickland gave the Bearcats life, but a strikeout by Will Kelley ended the potential rally.

Leon added seven more runs in the bottom of the fourth. The inning got off to a hot start when Davis singled, bringing home Colin Barrineau, followed by another RBI single.

One run in the top of the fifth helped Bainbridge Bearcats Varsity close its deficit to 9-2. A fielder’s choice set off a Bainbridge rally. Cunningham got the last out.

Wednesday, Bainbridge lost 10-7 to Westover in a game McCorkle said his players didn’t show up prepared to.

“We didn’t play very well,” McCorkle said. “We didn’t show up ready to play. We are paying with a lot of young guys. We are learning how to get.”

Carson Inlow led the team with two RBIs, but it wasn’t enough. The Bearcats were down 8-2 at the bottom of the third inning, and had a difficult times getting themselves out of the hole they were in.

“We put ourselves in a hole deeper than we can dig out of,” McCorkle said. “As a team, we hopefully learned the lesson that you can’t play that way. You have to come out and be at your best from the get go.”Bainbridge jumped out to an early 2-0 lead in the top of the first. They scored one run in the top of the fourth to cut their deficit deficit to five. An RBI single by Ty Varnum fueled Bainbridge Bearcats Varsity’s comeback. Westover stopped the rally after Mitchum got Caleb Boutwell to.

After a quick strike from Bainbridge Bearcats Varsity, Westover responded with two runs in the fourth. Westover scored on two groundouts

Three runs in the top of the sixth helped Bainbridge Bearcats Varsity close its deficit to 10-6. A two-run triple by Inlow and an error set off Bainbridge Bearcats Varsity rally.

Finally, Westover closer Terrance Mosely induced an inning-ending ground out from Noah Bryant.

One run in the top of the seventh helped the Bearcats close its deficit to 10-7. An RBI single by Preston Strickland triggered Bainbridge’s comeback. Mosely got the last out, as Wiggins flew out.

“We dropped a couple games this week that we would like to have back, but our goals are still in front of us,” McCorkle said.

The Bearcats swing back into action Monday, March 14, at Monroe. First pitch is 5:30 p.m.