AMERICUS — To squeeze bunt or not.

That was one of the many questions facing Southland Academy during Tuesday’s game against Trinity Christian.

The Raiders trailed for most of the game until Chandler Holloway’s two-run ground-rule double tied the game at 6 in the seventh inning.

Then after the Crusaders went ahead 9-6 in the eighth, the Raiders responded again. Down 9-8 with runners on second and third with one out and a 2-0 count, it came down to Scott Burgess.

Burgess delivered his second game-winner of the season, delivering a sacrifice fly to center field to score Fuller Timmerman to beat Trinity 10-9 on senior day.

“I told Scott to look down at me and I would check the feel of the game and the pitcher’s location,” said Raiders coach David Cochran. “I told him if we squeeze, we’ve got to win with it. He said, ‘Coach, I’m ready to make contact and drive it in.’ I told him that if I haven’t given you the squeeze bunt and you see a good pitch, you better drive it where it needs to be, and he sure did.”

Burgess delivered the game-winning hit against Westminster on March 20 to complete an 8-7 rally in the seventh.

This game had several momentum shifts.

Preparing for the state playoffs, Will Webb pitched the first two innings while Trinity used two different pitchers in the first two. Cody Bivins entered for the Raiders (13-7) in the third and started out shaky, allowing six runs on three hits, including a three-run double from James Hobbs in the fourth.

The Raiders closed the gap to 6-3 in the fifth behind a RBI-single from Michael Swain and a sac fly from Ty Cartwright.

Southland left eight men on base entering the seventh after Trinity stranded two in the top half of the inning.

Adam Fussell and Swain reached base to start the inning and then with two outs, Bivins lined a hit between third base and shortstop to score Fussell. Then with the bases loaded and two outs, Holloway belted a hit to the gap in right center, only for it to bounce over the fence, stopping Burgess at third.

Holloway was 0-for-2 with a walk prior to that at-bat.

“I knew I had to get a hit and go up there with confidence,” said Holloway. “I knew we were down and I knew we had to score some runs.

“I didn’t think it bounced it over. I thought it stayed in and we scored and won it. But when I saw Scott, I knew we hadn’t. I was happy we got it and tied it up.”