In the last two games, Porters Chapel has piled up errors at a maddening rate. There were the overthrows on the bases, dropped third strikes and various other miscues that turned close games into routs.

But on Tuesday, the Eagles cleaned up all of that and put a scare into visiting Hillcrest Christian. But the Eagles were fell short in a 10-8 decision at Pierce Field.

John Michael Harris, who tied the contest at 5 all in the third with a three-run home run, believes that the loss will be a positive springboard for the Eagles, who can clinch the District 5-A title with a sweep of Mt. Salus on Thursday.

“Tonight, we came together as a team for the first time this season,” Harris said.

Evidence of that was in the error column. The Eagles had a rough patch of two costly errors  which were key in a six-run rally by Hillcrest in the fifth. But they finished the night with just four.

The Eagles also swung the sticks with confidence. It was surprising considering that they were facing a Hillcrest starter, Josh Rogers, who is a Southern Miss signee.

Harris had three hits, including his home run and Matthew Warren also had three, all singles, with one RBI.

PCA had one last opportunity in the seventh, down 10-8, with runners on second and third. But Austin Hartzog, an Ole Miss signee, struck out Warren to end the game. Harris gave up seven runs on five hits in 42⁄3 innings of work, while Reed Gordon shook off some control problems in the fifth to keep potent a Hillcrest lineup off the board in the final two frames.

“You’re never happy after a loss, but we’re happy with the amount of fight we showed tonight,” PCA coach Jerry Bourne said. “It’s the kind of fight we’re going to need in the playoff stretch. If we erase a couple of mistakes and mental errors, we probably win this ballgame. But our pitchers fought, every pitch, and I’m really proud of the way we played tonight.”

After Hillcrest jumped in front 3-0 in the top of the third, Harris got the runs back. He made Rogers pay for his only big mistake of the game, a hanging curve that Harris pulled over the fence to tie the game at 3-all.

“I was thinking it was just going to be a popup,” Harris said. “I was just thinking a single. I didn’t even get the barrel of the bat on it.”

After Hillcrest took back the lead at 4-3 with a Drew Fountain sacrifice fly in the top of the fourth, the Eagles (11-10, 8-2) got an RBI single from Warren to plate Montana McDaniel and Jonah Masterson scored on a wild pitch to give PCA its only lead of the game at 5-4.

In the fifth, Hillcrest took control. Back-to-back doubles by Caleb Baucum and Hartzog put one run on the board and another runner in scoring position. An RBI single by Thomas Woodruff plated another and two errors led to two more runs as Hillcrest earned a lead it would never relinquish.

The Eagles knocked Rogers out of the game in the fifth with a couple of runs off Hillcrest errors, but Trent Driver and Hartzog combined to hold the Eagles to one run over the final two innings.

Contact Steve Wilson at swilson@vicksburgpost.com