By DOUG DONNELLY

Unfortunately, the one loss was a big one – in the Division 3 regional championship game.

Whiteford’s baseball team went 1-1 last week.

The Bobcats close the season 28-8, setting a school record for wins and winning league and district titles.

On Wednesday the Bobcats beat Onsted 5-1 to reach Saturday’s regional final, where they were upended 7-4 by Ann Arbor Greenhills in a 12-inning battle against two teams with well more than 20 victories each.

“We didn’t get the hits when we needed to,” said Bobcat coach Terry Pant. “In 12 innings, we had nine hits. We needed baserunners. We had multiple opportunities and we didn’t get it done.”

Bobcat pitchers struck out 20 Gryphons while striking out just twice themselves.

“That is what is baffling,” Pant said. “We didn’t strike out. They didn’t throw any by us, we just hit pop ups and hit the ball to them. We tried to think of anything to get runners and we didn’t.”

Whiteford put pressure on Greenhills early, scoring two runs in the first inning, starting with a walk to Tre Eitniear. He stole second and went to third on a passed ball and scored on a single by Nate Stevens. Later in the inning, with two outs, Logan Keane walked and followed Eitniear’s path of scoring another run.

“I think we had them rattled,” Pant said. “We needed to keep on the gas in the middle innings and we didn’t.”

Whiteford led Greenhills 3-1 and were seemingly in control until the sixth inning when the Gryphons squeezed across three runs to take a 4-3 lead. The Bobcats, however, fought back, scratching their way to a run in the bottom of the sixth inning – thanks to a single by Mason VanBrandt – to force extra innings.

Eitniear was the starting pitcher for Whiteford, going five innings and striking out six. Logan Tammerine, who came in to pitch in the sixth inning, went the rest of the way for Whiteford, striking out 14.

The score remained 4-4 until the top of the 12th. Greenhills put its first three runners on with a double, single and triple. They were also aided by two passed balls and an intentional walk.

Both squads went down in the eighth, ninth, 10th and 11th innings before Greenhills manufactured three runs in the top of the 12th inning with the help of a couple passed balls, a wild pitch and a couple singles. It was enough to send the Bobcats home from the Adrian College field disappointed.

“We knew they were going to be good because we scouted them,” Pant said. “We should never have been in that situation of extra innings. It’s kind of the story of our season. We would start out hot or come back on teams, but we seemed to not hit well in the middle innings.”

In the win over Onsted Wednesday, Tammerine had three RBIs. Keane, Tammerine and Eitniear shared pitching duties. VanBrandt had two hits.

Pant said the program should remain strong.

“There is a lot of interest in baseball still with the younger kids,” he said. “They want to win. Our program is fine. It was another successful season.”