BLANCHESTER – The Blanchester baseball team slipped into a first-place tie with East Clinton following an 8-4 loss to Bethel-Tate in SBAAC National Division action at Bott Field.

The Wildcats are 10-8 overall and 7-2 in the division. East Clinton also is 7-2 in the conference.

“We had two bad innings,” BHS coach Aaron Lawson said. “Walks, errors and passed ball mixed in with a bloop and a blast got them their runs.”

Jack Davidson had two hits, including a double. Preston Griffin and Eric Patton both had hits and drove in runs for BHS. Brody Rice had a hit and Cole Ficke had an RBI.

“We did not do ourselves any favors at the plate,” said Lawson. “Five hits is not good enough to beat anyone. Hopefully the weekend off will give us what we need to come in next week in mid-season form. It is a big week with three league games to close the regular season.”