Hampton baseball was unable to answer a late North Greene charge on Wednesday night.
The Bulldogs came up short as they dropped the first game of the District 1-A tournament to North Greene at Northeast Credit Union Ballpark in Elizabethton.
Hampton moves into Thursday’s elimination game where they will take on Unaka.
After North Greene took a 1-0 lead in the first and pushed the lead to 2-0 after the top half of the third, Hampton’s offense got cranking.
Tuff Robinson, Josh Whitson, and Chance Point reached base to load the bases with no outs, and Brody Hicks hit a double to plate two runs. In the next at-bat, Jaden Kuhn hit a shot to right field to score two more runs.
Hampton was unable to keep the momentum going but took a 4-2 lead into the fourth.
North Greene tied the game in the fourth with a sacrifice bunt and regained the lead in the fifth with a triple that plated a run.
The Huskies added four more runs in the sixth.
Hampton, however, continued to battle.
In the bottom of the seventh, the Bulldogs got two runners on base with no outs but were unable to mount a rally.
Hicks finished with two hits and two RBI, while Point had two hits. Noah Nichols, Whitson, and Kuhn each had a hit.
Adam Weir had two hits and two RBI for NG, while Don Stansfield also added two RBI.
