EULA – The No. 7 May Tigers exorcised their postseason demons as, after being eliminated from the playoffs the previous two seasons by the No. 9 Ira Bulldogs, the scripted was flipped Thursday night.

May pushed its win streak to 15 games, completing a Class A Region I baseball area playoff series sweep over Ira with a 9-4 victory. The Tigers also collected a 5-4 victory in 10 innings in Game 1 of the series Wednesday.

The Tigers (16-1) will move on to face No. 2 Hamlin (16-1) in the regional semifinals next weekend.

In Game 2, the Tigers jumped out to an 8-0 lead, scoring once in the top of the first inning, five times in the second, while adding a pair of runs in the third. Ira (13-5) cut the deficit in half, 8-4, before May tacked on one final insurance run.

May pitchers Kobey Morris and Hunter Seider teamed up to yield four runs on 11 hits with 10 strikeouts and six walks.

At the plate, the Tigers produced 18 hits off the Ira pitching combination of Brandt Cox and Noah Preston, who also walked five batters and struck out five. The Bulldogs also committed the game’s lone error.

Every member of the May lineup recorded at least one hit, led by Morris and Lane Goodson with three apiece and a pair of RBIs; Jackson Lusk with two hits; Brody Stice with a pair of hits and three RBIs; Seider and Cayson Dail both with two hits; and Kaden Watkins, Maddix Raffel and Kayden Psencik each chipped in one.

May grabbed a 1-0 lead in the first inning as Stice singled home Goodson, who reached base on a one-out base hit and moved to third on an error by Ira.

The Tigers seized control of the contest during the five-run second inning as Seider and Lusk started the frame with singles. With two outs, Dail singled to fill the sacks then Seider scored on a wild pitch for a 2-0 lead. Goodson walked to load the bases again and Stice came through with a two-RBI double for a 4-0 cushion. Goodson then came home on another wild pitch ahead of an RBI single by Morris, which stretched the advantage to 6-0.

May boosted the lead to 8-0 in the third as Seider singled and Lusk walked to begin the inning. With two down, Dail drew a free pass to again load the bases and Goodson came through with a two-RBI double.

Ira closed the gap to 8-2 in the bottom of the third on a two-RBI double by Christian Coy. In the bottom of the fourth, Coy doubled home two more runs with two outs, bringing the Bulldogs within 8-4.

The Tigers then scored once more in the top of the fifth as, with two outs, Morris singled home Goodson, who tripled ahead of a walk by Stice.