Chilton County High School and Jemison resumed their baseball rivalry on Saturday, as the Tigers mastered the late innings to defeat Jemison in comeback fashion in Game 1 of a doubleheader.

The Panthers grabbed control of the game early on with a run in the first inning after a leadoff double by Will Lenoir and an effective sacrifice fly by Michael Ray for an RBI.

Jemison took advantage of another leadoff double, this time by Mathew Ramsey, and grew its lead to 2-0.

Christopher Cunningham got the start on the mound for the Panthers and did his part early on to stifle the CCHS batting order.

“We preach overcoming adversity and having the ability to battle even in tough times,” CCHS head coach Ryan Ellison said.

However, the CCHS offense began to heat up in the bottom of the fourth inning, as the Tigers scored four runs.

“Our approach at the plate is always the same, but we just didn’t get it down in the first part of the game,” Ellison said. “We stayed in our mindset and battled through. Some big situations came up at the end, and guys stepped up.”

Tolliver Gilliland and Cade Hatch hit back-to-back singles, and Giquon Lane cleared the bases with a two-run double to left-center field.

“We’ve changed the lineup some and have had success both ways,” Ellison said. “The guys are figuring out what their roles are on the team.”

The CCHS onslaught was not yet complete, as Hunter Bennett blasted a home run that cleared the left center field fence in a hurry.

“He had been throwing me a curve ball the whole game, and he just left one up with two strikes,” said Bennett, the CCHS senior first baseman. “I had a pretty good idea it was gone, but I always run it out just to be sure.”

Jemison did not go quietly and continued to fight with a pair of runs driven in by a single from Ramsey in the top half of the sixth inning and cut the Tigers’ lead to 5-4.

Gilliland was not only effective at the plate but also on the mound, as the senior pitched all seven innings and finished strong with five strikeouts, while allowing six hits, one walk and three earned runs.

“I felt a little shaky at first, but I was really feeling confident by the end of the game,” said Gilliland, the CCHS senior pitcher. “I went out to the mound that last inning with the thought of needing three outs. There’s nothing like beating a county