DRANEVILLE — It’s do-or-die time for the Marion County Eagles, and it’s not looking pretty right now.

A day after falling at Rutland in heartbreaking fashion, Marion County was almost a no-show against Brookstone.

Chris Miller’s solo home run in the second was the Eagles’ only run as Brookstone rolled to a 12-1 win in five innings.

After striking out 17 times Tuesday, the Eagles struck out four on Wednesday, but managed only two hits.

“We’re not playing really well, we’re playing flat,” said Eagles coach Derek Goodroe, who benched two starters for the game. “We’re trying to send a message that if we don’t pick it up, the season will be over for them. We want to tick them off a little bit.”

The Eagles (12-10) travel to Crawford County on Friday in a must-win situation. They won the first meeting 5-3, but a loss pretty much means no postseason.

Goodroe said the team needs to play with a sense of urgency, especially the seniors.

“They know they’re going to have to play a lot better to have a shot at making the playoffs this year,” he said. “A sense of urgency hasn’t sunk into some of them. We’ve lost a couple of tough ball games lately, but it’s been a combination of things.”

Marion County used three pitchers in the game — Dillon Burns (0-2), Chase Cook and David Warat. Goodroe’s goal was to save Cody Brown and Warat for Friday’s game.

“We’re going to put the weight on their shoulders and they’ll have to carry us,” he said. “If we win Friday, next week will be like the playoffs. I hate to go this far to get them to realize where we’re at.”

Luke Teasley had a double for Marion County and it only had three other baserunners in the game.

Brookstone (11-9) scored seven runs in the first and never looked back. Jake Howard led the Cougars with a two-run homer in the first and a RBI-double in the fifth. Garrett Hix and Joey Lewis had RBI-doubles in the third and fifth innings, respectively.

BROOKSTONE 12, MARION CO. 1 F/5

Brookstone (11-9) 712 11 — 12 15 1