CHULA — Tiftarea Academy got off on the wrong foot Tuesday and never could catch back up with Cairo. The invading Syrupmakers won 12-2 only a week after Panthers won in Cairo.

The Syrupmakers had four first-inning runs in their 12-2 six-inning win. Kale Bearden drove in the first run on a double, and they took advantage of a couple of TA miscues.

Winston Lamb reached for the Panthers on a single in the bottom half of the inning and though he did not score, Tiftarea settled down on both sides of the field.

Ridley Monk came in for long relief in the second frame, putting up zeroes over the next three innings. His defense helped out, too. Jackson Parrish robbed the ‘Makers of extra bases with a diving catch in centerfield in the fourth inning. Parrish then made it a double play when Tiftarea caught Cairo tagging up early.

The Panthers scored single runs in the third and fourth innings. Monk played a major part in both.

Monk led off the third with a double to left, moving up a base on a Landon Clark sacrifice bunt that was so good, it turned into a hit for Clark.

Parrish grounded out to second with one down, scoring Monk in the process. Clark and Lamb were on the corners with two down, but Eli Cooper kept Cairo’s lead at 4-1 with a pop-out to third.

One inning later, the Syrupmakers were getting worried.

Dawson Butler blooped to center with one down and his courtesy runner, Hayden Matthews, immediately stole second. Cooper struck out his next batter, but Monk doubled on a ball that caught the chalk on the third base line. Matthews came home and it was a 4-2 contest.

Unfortunately for Tiftarea, the rally ended there. Cairo tallied five times in the fifth, a frame that saw 10 men come to the plate. The Syrupmakers kept the bases loaded for most it, getting an RBI single from Cayden Prince, followed by two-RBI double by Cooper. Bearden also picked up an RBI on a single.

The Panthers did have a neat play to get out of the jam, catcher Butler catching a runner between bases on a wild pitch. Butler began a rundown that saw nearly everyone on the infield involved in a series of perfect relays, ending with first baseman Jacob Joyner making the tag.

Cairo posted three more runs in the sixth to reach the 10-run threshold for an early ending. Charlie Burke made it aboard courtesy of a hit in the bottom of the sixth, but the Panthers were unable to make the seventh inning.

Monk had two of Tiftarea’s six hits. On the mound, he struck out four in 3 1/3 innings of work.

Tiftarea will host John Milledge Academy and Brookstone on Friday.