The #4 and #5 seeded Douglasville Bulls and Atlanta Crackers met out at Norton Field last night to open the 2010 SBL Playoffs in Douglas County. Kevin Meistickles Crackers were looking to bounce back after losing 4 out of 5 to the Bulls during the regular season.

Shawn Payne led off the game for the Crackers and it only took 3 pitches before the Short stop blasted a solo home run over the left field fence to give them an early 1-0 lead. The Bulls answered with three straight hits followed by a long 3 run home run by Brian York to cap off a 5 run bottom of the 1st. The Crackers then jumped on Bulls starter Toby Jordan and ran him out of the game after after giving up 5 runs in 1 2/3 innings pitched.
Over the next couple innings the Bulls offense put up 3 runs to give them an 8-5 lead. After timely hitting by the Crackers and some defensive miscues by the Bulls the Crackers came back to tie the game 8-8 and take the lead 9-8 after 6 innings played. Travis Morris entered the game for the the Bulls and struck out 6 over 2 2/3 innings of relief. Two costly errors by the Crackers in the bottom of the 8th gave the lead back to the Bulls 10-9. In the top of the 9th the Crackers had men on 2nd and 3rd with 1 out, but could not get the tieing run across the plate as Justin Yackee, the 2009 SBL reliever of the year, shut the door for the Bulls to give them a 1-0 series lead.

The series continues Wednesday night as the Atlanta Crackers host the Douglasville Bulls at Chattahoochee High School at 7:15.  

The Berkeley Lake Tides took down the Rockdale A's 6-5 to take a 1-0 series lead. Kenny Bellevance led the Tides offense with a 3 for 4 performance, and on the mound Jeremy Gazzaro, winning pitcher Kelly Holt and Zeb Heidt secured the victory for the Tides. The series continues Wednesday night as the Rockdale A's host the Berkeley Lake Tides in game 2 at Heritage High School at 7:15.