Elberta High School is heading to the state baseball semifinals for the first time in school history.

The Warriors let a 5-0, seventh-inning lead slip away Monday afternoon but responded with three runs in the top of the ninth and eliminated homestanding and No. 10 Marbury 8-6 in Game 3 of their best-of-3 Class 5A series.

The two teams split the first two games on Friday before weather postponed Saturday’s scheduled Game 3 until today. Elberta (26-8) will host No. 4 St. Paul’s in the semifinals later this week.

“It feels great,” Elberta coach Owen Davis said. “I’m proud for these kids. They’ve played really well and worked their butts off to get here. I’m happy I get to be around them for at least another week and, hopefully, two more weeks.”

The Warriors took the lead for good in the 9th, breaking a 5-5 tie when Adan Ramey scored on a wild pitch. Roman Lochrico’s 2-run single made it 8-5. Marbury trimmed the deficit to 8-6 in the bottom of the inning and had the bases loaded, but Kevin Jones induced a game-ending ground out.

Jones got the win with 2.1 innings of relief. He allowed 1 hit and 1 run and struck out 4. He also walked 4. He took over for starter Landen Adams, who allowed Marbury just 1 hit through six innings but ran into trouble with a 5-0 lead in the bottom of the seventh. The Bulldogs cut into the lead on Benton Howell’s RBI single. An error in the outfield allowed 2 more runs to score. Then, down to his final strike, Carson Mills doubled in 2 runs to tie the game at 5-5.

“I have to give credit to coach (Kevin) Hall and his staff and players,” Davis said. “They didn’t quit but fortunately neither did our kids. Up five runs in the bottom of the seventh, you feel pretty good, but Marbury just kept coming and gave us a run for our money.”

Elberta had taken a 3-0 lead in the top of the second and increased the margin to 5-0 in the fourth. Ramey, Jones and Lochrico each had 2 hits for the Warriors. Lochrico drove in 3 runs. Howell drove in 3 runs for Marbury. Mills was 2-for-2 with 2 RBIs and a pair of walks.

Keon Sampley, the third of four Marbury pitchers, took the loss. The Bulldogs finished 29-8.

This post will be updated