Ben’s Ford Christian School’s Eagles had their five-game winning-streak come to an end at home Saturday afternoon with a 12-8 loss to the Columbia Academy Cougars.

Ben’s Ford (9-7 at press time) trailed 7-1 after an inning and a half.

The Eagles scored three times to pull within three. Jordan Thomas and Garrett Pounds singled and walked respectively and, with two outs, Shelby Culpepper reached on an error. Thomas scored on Culpepper’s at bat, while Pounds and Culpepper both scored when Cole Edwards dropped a double between the first baseman, second baseman and right fielder to make it 7-4.

The Cougars (12-5) added to their lead when Dylan Reid reached on an error and scored on Paxton Burge’s sacrifice fly.

But Ben’s Ford responded with a run in its half of the third.

Brian Hines, who had a big day at the plate, led off the home half by getting hold of a pitch and sending it over the center field wall for a home run to help his team get closer at 8-5. Hines also recorded a first-inning RBI double and later reached on an error.

“I squared it up real good, turned my hips right and the ball does what the ball does,” Hines said.

Eagles’ coach Jerod Wascom said Hines has been outstanding for them all season.

“He’s come in, thrown in some tough situations and got us out of some jams. He’s hit the ball well, and he plays with a lot of intensity,” Wascom said.

Ben’s Ford put up two more in the fourth. Josh Crain began with a single and later Culpepper singled with one out. After a force out Destin Pittman tallied an RBI single, and Hines reached on a miscue that trimmed it to 8-7.

It stayed that way until the seventh when Columbia added four more runs. With one out, Burge walked. Following the second out, John Miles McNeese singled. Drew McElroy stepped in and doubled both runners home with a single to center. McElroy finished with three hits and four RBIs.

He talked about their mindset going into the seventh.

“We were up one. They were hitting the ball, and we weren’t doing anything. We made a few errors. We came out here, got the sticks hot and made a few good hits and got a few runs,” McElroy said.

After McElroy’s hit, Tyler Hall hit an inside the park home run when the Eagles’ right fielder dove for the ball but couldn’t come up with it.

Ben’s Ford put up one run in the seventh when Cody Stewart doubled and took third on a wild pitch. The errant attempted throw to get him at third allowed him to score, but the Eagles could not complete the comeback in the 12-8 loss.

The clubs met again Monday at Columbia, where Ben’s Ford suffered a 10-5 loss.0