Senior Jake Middleton worked out of three bases-loaded jams to help Smiths Station take Game 1 of its Class 7A quarterfinal series at Baker with a 2-1 win Friday night.

The game was delayed nearly five hours due to rain. As a result, Game 2 was pushed back to 1 p.m. Saturday. Game 3 would follow if the Hornets can even the series.

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“A little bit of really good pitching helped. That went a long way,” Smiths Station coach Mike Ferry said. “We had a five-hour rain delay basically, and I have never liked to bring a pitcher back in that situation after having sat for that long. Middleton is our best, and he wanted to continue to throw, even though he had tweaked his ankle right before that delay. We played well enough to win, but not as good as we need to continue.”

Middleton threw 103 pitches in 7.1 innings, striking out eight and scattering 10 hits. He walked two. The Panthers improved to 24-14-1 overall, while the Hornets dropped to 24-16.

“It was a great game,” Baker coach Tyler Minto said. “There is not much else to say. Both teams battled, but unfortunately they came out on top. I am proud of our guys for fighting and getting there and making it a ball game and competing against a really good team.”

Baker tarter Zack Munger scattered six hits and four walks with four strikeouts on 99 pitches in seven innings before giving way to reliever Paxton Cooper (1-1), who surrendered one run off one hit and two walks in an inning of work.

Bryson Sheppard sacrificed in a run in the top of the first inning to give Smiths Station a 1-0 lead. Baker, which stranded 11 runners, loaded the bases with no outs in the bottom of the fifth inning but failed to score.

The Hornets began the sixth with three consecutive hits, but lighting halted the inning with one at 5:17 pm. Heavy rains flooded the field, but a Herculean effort to make it playable was successful as players, coaches and fans began frantically trying to dry things out with leaf blowers, brushes, buckets and styrofoam cups. The coaching staffs of Alma Bryant and Cottage Hill Christian provided rolling squeegees and much-needed drying agent.

“Absolutely heart-warming,” Minto said. “We always talk about, ‘Work wins,’ but it wasn’t just the players. It was the families out on the field, and I am forever indebted to them.”

Play resumed at 9:57 p.m., but once again Baker left three runners on the bags without posting a run. In the bottom of the seventh, Brycen Brown was hit by a pitch, Ethan Santos followed with a single and Connor Gatwood reached on an error that allowed a run to score to tie things up at 1-1.

In the top of the eighth, Sheppard was hit by a pitch and later scored on a two-out single by Alex Phillips (2-for-3) to give the visitors a 2-1 lead.

In the bottom of the inning, Bryce Cain singled and later advanced to third base on a wild pitch, but reliever Lance Ballou retired the final two batters on ground outs to seal the win.