The Elizabethton Cyclones fended off Stewart County for most of the evening Tuesday.

The Rebels, however, broke through in the bottom of the seventh inning as  Stewart Co.’s Payton Milliken hit a walk-off single to give the Rebels a 3-2 win during game one of the TSSAA Class AA Baseball Tournament at Smyrna High School.

“Our guys really battled, “said Elizabethton head coach Ryan Presnell. ” But they (Stewart Co.) battled late and came out on top.”

The loss drops the Cyclones into the losers’ bracket where Elizabethton will face Grundy County at 11 a.m. CST, 12 a.m. EST, at Smyrna High School Wednesday.

The loss overshadowed the performance of Elizabethton pitcher Evan Carter. Carter tossed for six innings as he struck out 10 batters with many of the strikeouts resulting in third outs to get Elizabethton out of tough spots. Carter finished the night with eight hits and one run against him. Carter came out in the sixth as his pitch count dwindled down to 13.

“He goes really deep right there and goes through the sixth,” said Presnell. “I wish we could kept his pitch count a little bit lower. But what a gutsy effort by a sophomore. It says a lot about him and his character.”

The Cyclones got on board first in the third inning as both Carter and Evan Perkins had RBI singles in the inning. However, the Rebels answered in the bottom of the frame with Brandt Bramlett netting a run with a single. Elizabethton held a 2-1 edge heading into the fourth.

The game went scoreless until Stewart Co.’s game-winning at-bat in the seventh.