Clarkdale’s Chase Stephens plows over the top of Taylorsville’s Harvey Griffin near home plate Friday night.

In the words of Clarkdale baseball coach Scott Gibson, the timing for an offensive lull couldn’t have been worse.

After losing Game 1 of a three-game set with Taylorsville Friday in extra innings, 2-1, Clarkdale needed its bats to come alive in Game 2 Saturday in the second round of the MHSAA Class 2A postseason. Though they did wake up late, scoring three runs in the final two frames, Taylorsville had already built a lead that would prove too much to overcome, as the Bulldogs fell 6-4 to end their season.

“It stinks,” Gibson said. “We picked a bad time to go into an offensive slump. We scored 31 runs I believe last week, and we scored like five in 18 innings. But I can’t say enough about these guys — I think you can see how they fought all the way to the end. They didn’t give up. We had the winning run at the plate, but that’s just the way it goes.

“These guys have done a lot. They’ve had a good year. It stinks, but that’s the way it goes for everybody but one team.”

At first, it looked like Clarkdale might have a big inning early. The Bulldogs loaded the bases with walks in the bottom of the first, but Clarkdale was only able to manage one run on an RBI fielder’s choice by pitcher Kellen Spann. Taylorsville would go on to tie it 1-1 in the top of the second when Branson Sharpley smacked an RBI double.

Things got a little testy in the bottom of the second inning. Clarkdale senior Chase Stephens was tossed from the game after running into the catcher on an attempted scoring play, resulting in some heated words being exchanged between fans of both teams. Gibson, though, said he didn’t disagree with the call.

“It’s one of those things you hate to see,” Gibson said. “You hate to see a senior end his career like that, but it is the correct call. It just is what it is.”

Taylorsville head coach Dusty Hillman indicated there were no hard feelings afterward, even if emotions got high immediately following the incident.

“It was a rundown play,” Hillman said. “In that situation — kids going in, and it’s close-knit right there — it’s part of the game. It happens. It’s not a legal play right now. Coach Gibson was really apologetic about it, and I know he doesn’t teach those guys that. It’s just part of the game. The time of the game, the intensity is high… things happen. That’s kids. We’re dealing with kids, and that kind of stuff happens, but there are no hard feelings. We’re just playing the game.”

Neither team would score again until the top of the sixth, when Taylorsville added two runs after Tyler Boykin came home on a fielder’s choice and Karson Evans scored on an error. Clarkdale would cut the lead to 3-2 in the bottom of the sixth on a CJ Harris RBI single that scored Josh Collum.

But Taylorsville wasn’t done, as Evans hit a sacrifice fly in the top of the seventh and Layne Booth hit a two-run single to make it 6-2. Though the Bulldogs made it 6-4 in the bottom of the frame on a Collum two-run single, Taylorsville ultimately closed out the inning to get the win.

“We couldn’t get a rhythm,” Gibson said of the offense. “We couldn’t get into a vibe or groove. It seemed like when we did get good pitches, we couldn’t get good swings on them. Give their guys credit, they pitched well. Everything seemed like it was stacked against us offensively.”

Still, Gibson said the three runs in the final two frames showed the character of the team he’s seen all year.

“It shows they didn’t quit, and they haven’t,” Gibson said. “They’re not going to give up. This group, they just kept fighting. It just says a lot about them, how tough they are.”

Spann suffered the loss, going 6 2/3 innings, giving up six runs, five earned, on 11 hits while striking out four. Ken Scott relieved Spann with two outs in the top of the seventh and got the final out. Collum finished the game 2-for-4 and was the Bulldogs’ only multiple hitter.

Clarkdale ended its season with a 22-8 record.