Before the game ever began Thursday night, it was clear Philippi would win.

The tough part would be figuring out which team it would be.

Philippi A faced Philippi B in the first round of church league tournament play on a beautiful summer evening at the Timken Sports Complex.

It would come down to the last inning before Philippi A claimed a 20-19 win vs. Philippi B.

Philippi A’s Robbie Gentry smacked a single into left center with one out to bring in Doug Guinn for the game-winning run in the bottom of the seventh inning. This marked Gentry’s second RBI in the final two innings to give his team the advantage.

Philippi B jumped out to a quick 10-5 lead after the first inning. Then after scoring only two runs in the top of the second inning, Philippi B allowed Philippi A to continue chipping away at their lead. Philippi A scored five more runs in the bottom of the inning, thanks to a 315 foot bomb by Matthew Northern to cut the lead, 12-10.

Philippi B’s Charlie Childers’ solo home run over the left-center field fence was the only run scored by either team in the third and fourth innings.

Heading into the fifth inning, Philippi B added to their 13-10 lead by scoring four more runs for a comfortable 17-10 advantage.

Philippi B’s confidence slowly faded with their seven run lead. In the bottom of the fifth, Philippi A tallied seven runs on six errors and four walks to tie the game, 17-17. This proved to be the turning point for Philippi A.

Philippi B scored two runs in the top of the sixth inning to recapture the lead, only to be matched by Philippi A’s two runs scored in the bottom of the inning.

The score was tied 19-19 as they headed in to the final inning, Philippi B needed their offense now more than ever to produce the game-winning run. However, they would not put any runners on base as they went three up and three down.

Guinn and his Philippi A teammates made the most of this defensive stand. Guinn slapped the first pitch for a single. Then after a pop fly out, Josh Bridges would single to advance Guinn in to scoring position. With one out and runners on first and second base, Gentry stepped up to the plate and hit a single in to left-center field. As the ball rolled in to the fielder’s glove, Guinn was headed around third base and heading for home. There would be no contest at the plate as Guinn safely scored the game-winning run to give his team the 20-19 scrore needed for tournament victory number one.

Philippi A now advances to play number one seed Bethel Methodist Friday night at 7 p.m.

Philippi B will play the loser of tomorrow night’s game between Morningside and Buffalo Methodist on Monday at 8 p.m.

OTHER SCORES FROM THURSDAY NIGHT’S FIRST ROUND ACTION

In the A-League, Mon-Aetna (1) defeated Buffalo Baptist 20-19.

Mon-Aetna (2) and Browns Creek combined for 53 runs as Mon-Aetna (2) won 28-25.

In the final game on Timken Sport Complex’s field #4, West Springs defeated Tabernacle, 9-5.

In B-League action, Morningside defeated Padgett’s Creek 6-5 in extra innings.

Buffalo Methodist won big over Joy Springs,

38-1.

GAMES SCHEDULED FOR TONIGHT AT TIMKEN SPORTS COMPLEX

A-League Field #4

Sardis vs. Mon-Aetna (1) 7 p.m.

Mon-Aetna (2) vs. West Springs 8 p.m.

Brown’s Creek vs. Tabernacle 9 p.m.

iB-League Field #6

Bethel vs. Philippi A 7 p.m.

Morningside vs. Buffalo Methodist 8 p.m.