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The Cougars opened their season with a 13-6 loss against Baconton Charter School. 

The Blazers jumped to an early 4-1 lead by the top of the 2nd inning. The Cougars answered with three runs in the bottom of the second, tying the game at 4-4. 

Landon Temples scored the Cougars’ run in the first inning, then Oathen Atkinson, Aiden Whittaker and Temples again brought the game to a stalemate in the second. 

The third inning was quiet, neither team scored. Then Baconton doubled their score with four runs in the top of the fourth inning. The Cougars struck back with one run from Whittaker in the bottom of the inning, making the score 8-5.

The Blazers found the scoreboard again in the fifth inning with two more runs, making the score 10-5. 

The Cougars responded with one run in the sixth inning, then Baconton ended the game in the top of the seventh with three runs, making the score 13-6. The match was forced to end in the top of the inning due to insufficient lighting of the playing area..

Cougars’ head coach Ryan Riles said the team needs to “clean up” on routine plays, but was overal proud of the way the team responded to competition.

“We had good energy,” Riles said. “Energy and standing behind each other as a team. I definitely was impressed with that.”

The Cougars take on Westover in Albany next. The away game starts at 5 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 22.