BROOKSIDE – Bellaire and Bridgeport met on the diamond last week in a regular-season contest. The Big Reds prevailed, 9-3.

The two teams met again Monday with much more at stake. And unlike their last matchup, the Bulldogs came out victorious, 6-5, in an OHSAA D-VI sectional affair at Niekro Diamond.

The tournament win propels coach Billy Timko’s squad into a meeting against top-seeded and reigning-state champion Hiland on Wednesday. The 10th-seeded Bulldogs improved to 10-12 on the campaign.

“It’s nice to get a tournament win. We have been through a lot this season,” Timko said. “We know how good Hiland is but we look forward to the challenge. It is a great opportunity for us.”

The Bulldog Baseball Nation has had the unenviable and challenging task of dealing with being forced to play without two key regulars as Brode Brown and Zander Wilson were seriously in a car accident several weeks ago.

“They were our second- and third-place hitters. We had to move a lot of players around,” added the retiring Bulldog boss. “We just hope and pray Brode and Zander make complete recoveries.”

The loss snapped a two-game winning streak for Bellaire. The Big Reds of first-year coach Mason Ramsay were the 11th seeds.

Bridgeport was able to slip past Bellaire thanks to a Herculean effort from Connor Nelson.

The Bulldog ace took the mound in relief of Jaki Threet in the third inning. The hosts trailed 5-1 at the point.

Nelson was overpowering to say the least. The hard-throwing righthander allowed just one hit in his five innings of work. He struck out an amazing 13 batters while issuing no walks.

If his mound performance wasn’t impressive enough, Nelson crushed an RBI triple and also scored the game-ending run on a sacrifice fly by freshmen Brett Kuprowicz.

“I am not used to coming in relief but I am always ready for whatever the team needs. I was in command of all my pitches and my fastball was really effective,” Nelson said. “It was a pretty good day at the office.”

Bellaire took a 1-0 lead in its initial at-bat. Scott Balsei, the team’s lone senior, singled and came home on a Brae Schmidli single.

Bridgeport answered with a run in the home-half of the first. Sophomore Roman Sauvageot walked, stole second and scored on an error.

The Big Reds exploded for four runs in the second inning. Ayden Warner singled to open the frame. After a strikeout, Logan Lewis walked before Balsei singled again. An error plated Warner before Schmidli singled in two more runs. Junior standout Alex Padgett brought the fourth run home via a groundout.

Bridgeport cut the deficit to 5-3 with a pair of runs in the third. Sauvageot walked again and scored on Nelson’s triple to deep left center. Gage Drummond brought Nelson home via a groundout.

The Bulldogs tied the game with two runs in the fourth. Kannan Hildebrand singled, David Proctor walked and Bryson Arno singled to load the bases. Hildebrand scored on a throwing error while Proctor was plated by an RBI grounder by Threet.

Bridgeport’s climactic seventh inning started when Nelson reached on an error. Drummond singled before Carson Sauvageot was intentionally walked to load the bases. That set the stage for Kuprowicz’s walk-off sac fly.

“Connor was sensational on the mound,” Timko said. “He was in total control. He is already being recruited by colleges even though he is only a sophomore.”

Balsei was the tough-luck loser. He pitched well in a route-going performance. He surrendered only six hits, fanned four and walked three.

Schmidli paced Bellaire’s offense with three hits and three RBI while Balsei had two singles.

“We competed well tonight. We got off to a great start but Nelson pitched a tremendous game in relief,” Ramsay said. “I am proud of my team. They never quit this year and worked hard even though we had only 10 kids.

“We ended the year a much improved team, winning two straight games heading into the post-season,” added the former Big Red athletic standout. “The future looks bright. We will have double-digit freshmen coming in next year with some nice talent in the pipeline.”

Roman Sauvageot enjoyed a fine night for the winners, reaching base four times to go along with three steals. Hildebrand had two hits for the Bulldogs.