Greg Williams doffs his cap to show off his his new blond locks. Williams joined his players in bleaching his hair for playoffs.

TIFTON — The dance continues for the Tift County Blue Devils in the Class 6A state baseball tournament, a 7-6, 11-inning victory that was even more dramatic than the score indicates.

Tift (27-7) loaded the bases with Drew Hembree, Sam Pritchard (running for Cam Smith) and John Davis with no outs. Brunswick got a strikeout and Brady Moretz stepped up for the game winning sacrifice fly.

“He played lights out, didn’t he?,” said head coach Greg Williams of Moretz’s heroics, which were not limited to the one at-bat. Besides the game-winner, Moretz was magical on the field, too, with a number of huge defensive plays.

When Moretz stepped up, Hembree stood at his base, waiting for the signal from Greg Williams to take off. It was obvious it would be close. Landon Parrish made sure Hembree knew to slide. Ball and man arrived at the plate almost simultaneously. Hembree made impact and a little white orb bounced away. He was safe and the Devils advanced to the elite eight.

Tift will be home Monday against Etowah. A time has not yet been set.

Both the Devils and Eagles won their region and Tift won the GHSA’s universal coin flip to host. Etowah is in the elite eight with ease, having held Habersham Central scoreless in a sweep. Three of the elite eight are Region 1-6A teams; Joining Tift are Houston County and Thomas County Central, both sweeping series Wednesday.

Such are the cruelties of baseball, that after all the effort of 11 innings, most of the day being an edge-of-seat experience, that one team had to fall.

Brunswick was that team. The Pirates, who dug out of a 4-0 hole from the first inning, who went ahead by two runs in the ninth and still had that lead with two outs and the eighth place hitter up, they came so close to getting to the 12th. They almost ruined Tift’s bases-loaded-no-out optimism.

But high-drama baseball is cruel and it was the Blue Devils rejoicing on the field on Moretz’s sacrifice fly and Hembree’s slide.

John Dorman set down the side in order to start the game. Brunswick did not. The Pirates nearly completely unraveled in the frame, Tift striking for four runs before the visitors recorded a single out.

Davis started with a bang, a liner off the mound for a single. Tyler Holmes walked and when Moretz laid down a sacrifice bunt, the throw to first overshot its target. Davis scored. Seconds later, the Bucs couldn’t hang on to a pitch and Holmes made it 2-0.

Parrish followed with a double off the centerfield wall to bring in Moretz and the party was still going. Brunswick brought in a new pitcher and Ty Dorden laid down a bunt that had two tall throws, bringing home Parrish.

Williams credited the fans for the start. They stomped and cheered and he believed it rattled the Pirates.

“The atmosphere was great,” he said. Though Williams said he can’t see from the dugout, he could feel and hear the crowd’s energy. Sporting freshly-bleached hair, Williams now resembles his players who went blond for the playoffs. Assistant Taylor Barber may be the next to get the bleach job as the team has advanced another round.

Tift fans hopeful of a quick night and perhaps a run rule wouldn’t get it.

After that tough start, the Pirates were a wall. Trenton Robinson, who came in in relief only four batters into the game, stayed on the hill for a long, long time. By the time he exited, the game’s feeling was much different.

Dorman hummed along through five. He stranded a runner on third in the third, then got a 5-3 double play by Moretz in the fourth before a 1-2-3 fifth.

Down to four outs, Brunswick found a new strength.

A single to deep short by Ryan Thomas was followed by a single by Jordan Lodise. When the pair attempted to move up on a pitch that briefly squirted away, the throw to third got away, Thomas scoring their first run.

Roland Chance reached on an error and it was 4-2. Brunswick kept hanging in with a single by Grant Moore and a walk to Elijah Wellman and the bases were loaded.

Logan Graversen, who gave the Devils trouble all series, hit a clutch single to right to bring in Chance and Moore, knotting the score at 4-all.

Tift couldn’t get any magic going in the sixth or seventh. A runner was picked off in the former and Davis was stranded at first after a two-out single in the seventh.

That meant free baseball at Devil Diamond, matching up Will Pridgen against Robinson.

Moore doubled in the eighth, but didn’t move from there. Moretz, who stepped up big at every moment, did so again here, running into foul territory and crashing through a gate to hang on to a pop-up.

“What a play,” said Williams. “Gosh, what a play.”

Robinson pitched a perfect eighth. His team then almost seemed a lock for victory when they broke through in the ninth. Dawson Parks singled with one down, then Brett Hickson hit a deep outfield ball that saw two fielders collide.

Pridgen almost escaped after Hembree caught a liner at second, but Lodise came through with a two-run single to left, giving the Bucs a 6-4 lead.

That was almost it.

The first two hitters in the bottom of the ninth flew out. Hembree was the last hope.

Hembree extended the inning with a single up the middle. Smith made it two on and two outs with a single past a diving first baseman. With Pritchard in again to courtesy run and Davis at the dish, Brunswick went to their pen.

In came Lodise, the game two winner that Tift couldn’t solve. This time, they did.

Davis sent a liner over shortstop, driving in Hembree to make it 6-5. Holmes worked a walk to fill up the bases, then Moretz was plunked, scoring Pritchard and tying it once more.

Parrish almost ended it there, but a big play at first saw Lodise dive to tag the bag on a feed, getting Parrish by a step. The game continued.

Holmes charged in three times in the 10th and made three strong throws rom shortstop. Lodise allowed Tift nothing in the bottom half.

Pridgen’s pitch count was rising. He threw three innings in the opening game and this was his fifth inning in the finale.

“We were counting his pitches,” said Williams. The playoff limit is 120 over three games.

Holmes made another charge and throw. Then was a strikeout and fly to Davis in center. Pridgen finished the frame with 117 pitches.

So up stepped Hembree in the 11th. He started the rally before and here he was again, this time hit by a pitch. Smith, the best bunter on the team, laid down a sacrifice so beautiful that the Pirates didn’t attempt a throw. Davis did the same, a little roller that almost went foul down the third base line but was picked up.

Brunswick got a strikeout. One down. Moretz hit the first pitch he saw to center. Hembree, tagged, slid and Tift players erupted in celebration.

Davis went 4-for-6 in the finale.

No one else had more than one hit for the Devils. Moretz drove in two. Pridgen struck out four in winning his second game of the series.

Brunswick, who headed home in heartbreak, got two hits each from Thomas, Lodise, Moore and Graversen.

Robinson, whose heroics kept his team going, threw 8 1/3 innings, striking out seven.

Besides Tift-Etowah, state quarterfinals series in Class 6A included Thomas County Central at Pope and Houston County hosting Lassiter.