Bulldogs split games in regionals
</element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[Sparta's baseball squad posted an exciting 2-1 win over Waltonville in the quarterfinals of the Nashville Regional Tournament last week. Waltonville broke a scoreless tie in the third with one run, then Sparta answered with one in the sixth. Neither team scored in the seventh, but the Bulldogs came up with the winning run on a single by Austin Peck in the eighth.
Dillon Blind was the other offensive star for Sparta as he hit a home run and a double. Jordan Thompson turn ed in a great pitching effort to get the win, allowing only four innings in eight innings of work.
In the regional semifinals Sparta faced top-seeded Du Quoin. The contest was a wild one with the Indians eventually coming out on top 7-6 to eliminate the Bulldogs.
The game was tied at 2-2 in the sixth when Du Quoin exploded for four runs and seemed to take control. But the Bulldogs weren't done yet as they came up with four runs in the top of the seventh to make the score 6-6. DuQuoin was able to push across one run in the bottom of the seventh to take the victory and advance to the regional championship.