VIDALIA — Once again Vidalia went down to the wire and narrowly pulled out a 9-8 District 3-3A win over the Buckeye Panthers on a game-winning single by Mason Ozburn.

With the win the Vikings maintain a tie for first place with Marksville.

The Vikings took an early four-run lead over Buckeye after the first inning and led the Panthers through the first six innings.

Vidalia had an 8-3 lead in the top of the seventh when Trey Brasher hit two batters and walked another to load the bases.

“Trey pitched a great game for us,” Vidalia head coach Johnny Lee Hoffpauir said. “I left him in one batter too long. It was just a bad decision on my part.

A run was walked in and the lead was cut to four.

With the bases still loaded, Adam Foster hit a grand slam over the right-center field wall to tie up the game and give Buckeye the momentum they needed.

Clint Smith was tagged out at third base and the Vikings found themselves needing to score a run in the bottom of the inning or send the game into extra innings.

After Seth Thompson drew a walk, Beau Doughty hit a line-drive single to center field to move Thompson into scoring position.

“Beau had a great at-bat which turned out to be huge for us,” Hoffpauir said.

Following Doughty, Mason Ozburn hit a single down the first base line and drove in Thompson for the game winning run.

“Our kids just don’t quit,” Hoffpauir said. “It was a great ballgame and we needed that win.”

Ozburn picked up the win for Vidalia while Smith was dealt the loss for Buckeye.

Brasher batted 3-for-4 with two singles, a home run and two RBIs for the Vikings.

Smith had a 2-for-4 effort for Buckeye with a home run, a double and an RBI.