CHULA — A baseball game was played at Tiftarea Academy Thursday and a football score resulted. Wilcox County defeated the Panthers, 17-12 with a wild path for both teams to get to that final.

Wilcox scored seven in the top of the first, but Tiftarea clawed their way back in, reaching a 7-7 tie in the third. After a scoreless fourth, the Patriots added seven in the fifth, plus a single run in the sixth. The Panthers were back in striking distance following a five-run bottom half before the visitors added two insurance runs.

The two teams are to rematch in Rochelle on Monday before Tiftarea gets back to region competition Tuesday at home against Deerfield-Windsor.

Thursday’s first inning was a tough one for the Panthers. Wilcox sent 13 to the plate and racked up eight hits in the process. None was more than a single, though Deacon McDuffie’s hit with the bases loaded drove in two for their sixth and seventh runs.

Wilcox could have coasted from there making an early night for both sides, but Tiftarea wouldn’t let them.

Jackson Parrish walked to start the bottom of the first with a walk and John Jackson doubled. Dawson Butler grounded out for an RBI and Jackson came home for a wild pitch.

It was 7-3 after two frames. Jacob Joyner was hit by a pitch with one down and his courtesy runner, Landon Clark, moved up on a Ridley Monk single and scored on Parrish’s squeeze bunt.

One inning later, the score was squared at 7. It was the Panthers’ turn to bat around, with 10 men getting to hit.

After Robert Garner and William Garner reached, the Pats had three consecutive two-out errors for both two score. Those errors put Reed Jackson, Clark and Monk aboard and it was time for a different type of miscue — walks to Parrish and John Jackson that drove in two of them.

Allowing Tiftarea to catch up was excellent relief work. Joyner took the hill in the second and recorded three straight scoreless innings, including a 1-2-3 second.

However, Wilcox’s bats came to life again and they once more tried to put the game out of reach with a seven-run fifth.

Twelve batted for the Patriots in the fifth, the first nine reaching without an out. McDuffie, Jake Howell and Tre Griffin all doubled to bring in runs. And a crafty Wilcox achieved the boldest moment of them all when courtesy runner Jackson Smith stole home after a pitch, during the throw back to the pitcher.

Each team batted around twice in an inning. Tiftarea got themselves back in striking distance doing so in the bottom of the sixth.

It was the Garners again setting the tone, Robert reaching on an error and William on his third walk of the day. Winston Lamb joined them with a walk, then a slew of wild pitches first scored Robert Garner. Then, after William Garner plated on Reed Jackson’s groundout, Lamb’s courtesy runner Hayden Matthews came in on a wild pitch.

Parrish doubled to deep left, bringing in Joyner and Monk and it was a 15-12 contest. Unfortunately, the run ended in the form of new Wilcox reliever Bo Bloodworth, who stopped the bleeding, then got a 1-2-3 seventh.

In between, the Patriots picked up two more runs on three hits in the top half.

Monk recorded two hits for the Panthers, who took advantage of four Wilcox errors and nine walks. Parrish had four RBIs.