HOWELL >> The plan worked early, as South Lyon had Brighton ace Drew Everson solidly mired in his own feelings through the first two innings of Tuesday’s predistrict baseball game.

But the Lions couldn’t hurt the Michigan State commit’s feelings enough to make it stick, leaving the door open, and the Bulldogs took advantage of the Lions’ self-inflicted wounds for a four-run rally in the fourth, winning 5-4, leaving the Lions feeling the hurt of elimination.

“I mean, we talked … we saw (Everson) last year, and he shut us down last year, so we knew what we were up against. As a coaching staff, we thought maybe some small ball get them throwing the ball around, get him just feeling a little bit on little bit uncomfortable on the mound, if anything,” said Lions head coach Erich Stephenson, whose team nearly batted around in the first, posting two early runs, then doubling the lead an inning later. “But, I mean, he’s an MSU commit. He’s an experienced senior, so it’s not going to take too much to get him back settled in. So you know, props to him, and props their team for just fighting all the way through.”

It worked to a T, too.

But … the Lions didn’t twist the knife.

South Lyon got a leadoff infield hit from Gavin Crowley, a bunt single from Aiden Robinson, then back-to-back RBI singles by Luke Stevens and Alex Verona-Kerley, giving the Lions a 2-0 lead four batters in, before the initial public address announcement had even finished echoing.

There were some doubts creeping into Everson’s head, too.

“Absolutely, I mean, in my head, I’m like, ‘Wow, like this, this really could be my last high school baseball game.’ But then I turn to my left and there’s Freddie Londo right next to me, screaming in my ear, telling me we’re still in it. And then that negative thought left immediately,” Everson said. “And we’ve talked about that throughout all of high school baseball is how to pick up a guy when he’s down. And to be honest, I was down, and I was feeling myself a little bit, you know, I was in my feelings a little, and that’s not, that’s not OK, when the rest of the team is up and loud.

“So in my head, when Freddie came over, he picked me up. I was like, ‘I got to get up too.”

“So I was out there screaming as well. And I think that’s what honestly changed the momentum of that game, was that the worst player on the field at the time, which was me, got picked up by a guy that wasn’t playing. And that in my head, I’m like, This guy wants to win. He really his impact is so subtle, but it’s so major, honestly. And that’s what changed it.”

Everson pitched out of a bases-loaded jam in the first, getting a force out at the plate, and back to back strikeouts.

It was one of those rallies that seemed more impactful than it was, when the Lions sent eight batters to the plate, and only netted two runs.

Even Everson thought he’d given up more, especially when the Lions nicked him for two more in the second, on doubles by Gavin Martinowski and Stevens, sandwiched around a Brighton error and a strikeout.

“Obviously two runs (in) and you jump out with bases loaded, nobody out, you’re hoping you can get a big number up there. And we were able to come back in inning two and get a couple more and our energy was high.

“The boys were feeling good about themselves. But, you know, I mean, that’s a damn good pitcher, and we knew he was going to eventually settle in, so obviously he’d love to get a couple more runs there,” Stephenson said. “But I mean, we also were confident in our pitchers and giving them a four-run lead. That usually bodes well in our season. I mean, our team ERA was sub-2.00 this year, so if your guys get a couple runs, we kind of felt confident, but I think we just got a little bit too complacent and it ended up coming back to bite us.”

The Lions had a chance to add on runs in the third, getting the lead runner on with an error, then sacrificing him into scoring position, but that seemed to be when Everson really locked in, retiring seven straight before another batter reached on an error, retiring 16 of the final 18 batters he faced.

The Bulldogs halved the deficit with two runs against Lions starter Chris Mathis — who won in relief on the same field in a predistrict game a year ago — then sending eight hitters to the plate against reliever Ryan Walters in a four-run rally in the fifth, helped by three Lions errors.

They took the lead on an RBI single by Alexander Banghart, and that would be all Everson would need to finish off the win.

“We talked to our guys, and they felt confident in the strategy too, that we told (Mathis), we’re gonna probably go through the lineup two times. If you can get through four innings, that’s awesome, but if not, we’re gonna give them just try and change up their looks,” Stephenson said.

“And you know what? I mean, it’s not like Walters went out there and threw bad. I mean, you got mean, he got three ground balls and we made three errors for him.”

The Lions (26-8), who finished second in the Lakes Valley Conference race, will graduate 12 players from this year’s team, eight of which will play in college, but have become a year-in and year-out contender in the LVC.

“The biggest thing for us, to continue over the years is just keep working. You know, keep grinding. Obviously, having this tough game; last year, we won two tough games, then lost in the district final. My first year, we lost a one-run game to (a) Hartland (team) that went all the way to the regional finals. So we’re right there, and these are tough, one-run games,” Stephenson said. “That’s experience for this underclass group that’ll hopefully pay dividends next year.”