Sean Montgomery hit a pair of home runs and Hunter Ott threw four strong innings to lead Griffin Christian High School in a 9-7 loss Friday at Nix Field against the first-place Brandon Hall School out of Atlanta in GISA Region 4-AA baseball.

Ott, limited because he had reached the maximum number of pitches he was allowed to throw by GISA rules, left the game with a 4-3 lead thanks in part to the heroics of Montgomery who hit a two-run homer to tie the game 3-all in the bottom of the third where Griffin Christian added another run later in the inning to take a 4-3 lead.

Brandon Hall scored once in the top of the fifth to re-tie the game before Montgomery hit his second homer of the game in the bottom half of the inning to put his team back in the lead, 5-4.

Griffin Christian’s lead, however, was short-lived as Brandon Hall scored four runs in the top of the sixth and another in the top of the seventh to carry a 9-5 lead into the bottom of the seventh. There Griffin Christian (1-3 overall, 1-1 region) scored twice but could score no more as it lost its first region game of the season and Brandon Hall (3-0 overall, 2-0 region) remained undefeated.

“After Hunter left the game we threw four or five others, but had trouble throwing strikes,” said Griffin Christian head coach David Hammond. “We probably walked in all of the last five runs.”

Griffin Christian continues its season with four games this week. The Crusaders host Dominion Christian on Monday and LaGrange Academy on Tuesday before making a rainout up on Thursday at Furtah Prep and then closing out the week with a game Friday at Arlington Christian.