MILLINGTON -- Tuesday afternoon Dyer County found itself down but not out.

In the opening game of the TSSAA Class AA Baseball Tournament, the Choctaws were throttled 9-0 by Milan. In order for DC to keep its postseason life going, it would have to somehow rebound in less than six hours before taking on Alcoa. If not, they would be making another early exit from state.

But the Choctaws did what they have become accustomed to doing. They battled their way to a 3-1 victory keeping their playoff run alive for at least one more day as they earned their first state win in the program's history.

"It's huge for our school and the baseball program," said DC coach Preston Ozment. "It keeps their spirits high. We know we play another day."

Dyer County was scheduled to play this morning at 10 a.m. against Grundy County, who lost to Milan 2-1 last night in the winner's bracket. Either team will have been a tough adversary, but the Choctaws already know what they would be up against in the Bulldogs and would most likely like to wait until they have to see them again.

Dyer County came into its matchup with Milan as a considerable underdog. And the Bulldogs showed why that was the case as they roughed up the youthful Choctaws 9-0.

Despite its 37-3 record heading into the tournament, Milan didn't want to take any chances against a peaking Dyer County squad.

"The polls mean nothing," said Milan coach Donny Joyner. "There are some teams that got knocked out that shouldn't have. Dyer County may have been a semi-surprise being here. I know they are good and they are hot. You can't take anything for granted."

With that in mind, the Dogs jumped on Dyer County pitcher Brad Davis early in the first. Phillip White doubled to center before Davis hit the Dogs' Chris White. George West sent a double into left to bring Phillip White home. But the senior missed home plate and Choctaw catcher Shane Hinson followed him to the bench to tag him out with the heads-up play.

Even though the mistake cost Milan a run, they still plated two more scores in the first.

The Dogs kept the pressure on in the second when Chris Hughes led off with an inside-the-park home run to put Milan up 3-0.

"Our pitcher didn't come out too sharp today," said Ozment. "He was getting behind in a lot of counts and I said we were going to have to get ahead in the count. They took advantage of it."

Milan broke the game open in the third with RBI hits from Hughes, Seth Walls and Brennen Ward. That ended the day for an irritated Davis.

"I couldn't control my fastball," Davis said. "I couldn't control any of my pitches. They were just hitting the ball hard. I got frustrated big time. They were hitting the ball and I got down on myself. I shouldn't have been. I should have held my head up high and pitched the ball game."

Derek Hinson and Shawn Sawyers combined to finish the game and allowed three more runs.

The Choctaws' offense, which had been stellar entering Tuesday, managed only two hits. Both of which came from Dylan Cupples. They were never able to get a handle on what the Bulldogs' Jonathan White was doing.

"He was working the count," Ozment said. "Staying ahead in the counts. Making us swing at his pitches. Making us make mistakes. When you do that he is going to make you hit the ball where he wants you to hit it. And you are going to have a lot of strikeouts. And that is what we had."

However, for the Dogs, it was their success early in the contest that paved the way for the comfortable win.

"With a hot team like they were coming in, they were hyped up," Joyner said. "We were hyped up. It's the state tournament. It's big when you can put a couple of runs on there and bang the ball around early like we did, it kind of deflates them. I don't know if they got deflated. It kind of relaxed us."

Yet, it was Dyer County that came out more relaxed in the nightcap versus Alcoa. With Cupples on the mound, the Choctaws held the Tornadoes (21-24) to three hits as he fanned six batters.

"He pitched well," Ozment said. "Started off slow. Maybe state jitters. Then picked up pace. We had one miscue in the first inning when we booted a double-play ball. Settled in after that."

Dyer County also got its offense going, slightly. Derek Hinson knocked in two runs while Sawyers had an RBI. Cody Hammond connected for two singles.

But Ozment still feels his team squandered a few chances to put the Tornadoes away.

"We still couldn't get guys in," Ozment said. "Had chances to bury them. We put the bat on the ball but couldn't get timely hits."

But the Choctaws (22-17-2) did show the coaching staff something that they have felt all along.

"It shows the character of this team," Ozment stated. "They are not going to give up when their backs are against the wall."