THOMASVILLE — Thomasville went to toe-to-toe with last year’s Region 1-AA champs Tuesday night.

The Bulldogs (7-6, 4-2) failed to step up to the plate, defensively, though.

Joseph Deloach pitched five innings for the Bulldogs, allowing five unearned runs in a 5-2 loss against the Fitzgerald Purple Hurricane.

“If we take away a couple of routine mistakes, we win the game 2-0,” Thomasville coach Erik McDougald said.

Thomasville’s defensive woes compounded in the third inning. Fitzgerald loaded the bases with no outs. After Deloach recorded a strikeout, he then got a groundball to third baseman Duncan Wilder. Wilder’s throw home, however, sailed high of catcher Jake Fletcher, allowing the Purple Hurricane to strike first. Fitzgerald added another run on a bases-loaded walk.

The Purple Hurricane added three more in the fourth, capped by mental errors from freshman Seth Corbitt and sophomore Brooks Woodward. With two outs, Alan Sandford hit a pop fly to short-left field. Corbitt back-pedaled from his shortstop position with Woodward darting in from his left-field position. The ball dropped in between the two, as Corbitt failed to make the catch. The miscue allowed two runs to score.

“I think it’s just a freshman trying to do too much and a sophomore not calling him off,” McDougald added. “Defensively, we’re in a funk right now.”

Offensively, Thomasville’s lone runs came in the bottom of the fourth inning, with two outs. Trey Thriffley delivered an opposite-field two-run single off Fitzgerald pitcher Brad Taylor. After allowing that hit, though, Taylor retired the last 10 batters to end the game.

“He was locked in,” McDougald added. “That’s why he’s one of the premier pitchers in the region.”