Northridge scored five runs in the bottom of seventh but it wasn’t enough as the Charles Henderson Trojans eked out a 7-6 win to claim the 2016 Terry Sikes Tournament championship.

The Trojans entered the bottom of the seventh in Saturday’s championship game with a 7-1 lead and looked have the game well in hand until the Jaguars made their move.

Northridge scored five runs on four hits during the seventh inning. The big problem in the inning came in the way of walks. Grant Hughes walked a total of three batters. Throw that in with two wild pitches and Northridge was right back in the game. The big hit cam with two outs in the inning when Northridge hit a two run double to bring their defecit to just one with tying run just 90 feet away.

On the very next pitch the ball flew over catcher Jackson Murphy’s head and rolled all the way to the backstop. Murphy however made a perfect flip to nail runner out at home to end the game.

“It was a little too close for comfort,” Teal said. “I felt confidant Grant was cruising. It was his first outing, and he ran out gas. Sometimes things are going to go your way and sometimes they’re not. They went our way tonight, especially with that last play.

The Trojans had another huge night offensively, tallying seven runs off nine hits.

The Trojans jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the top of the third when Hartley singled in Nick Lewis. The Trojans would tack on two more in the inning when Murphy singled in Hartley and Charlie Tisdale doubled in Hunter Reeves and Murphy to increase their lead to 4-0.

Like they did all tournament long, the Trojans kept adding to their lead they tacked on their fifth and sixth run of the game in the fourth inning off the bats of Lewis and Hartley, who drove in Jabronski Williams on a fielder’s choice.

Charles Henderson scored what would end up being the winning run in the seventh inning off the bat of Devan Suddith.

Hartley finished 2-3 with a RBI, capping off an 8-10 performance during the tournament. “I am seeing it pretty good,” Hartley said. “It’s definitely a beach ball coming in there right now for sure.”

The Trojans finished 5-0 in the tournament and they’re hoping that success will springboard them into another successful season.

“I plan on going out with another ring,” Hartley said, who was a member of the 2014 state championship team. “The more confidence we have, the better shot we have to get it.”

“This win shows us where we are at,” Teal said. “It shows us what we are capable of. This team has shown that it can take a hit they are tough. It’s awesome to see. We know that we can do it now. We just have to move forward and improve on the things that we can improve on.”

The Trojans will be back in action on March 1 when they host Andalusia at 4:30.