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The Huntland High School Hornets lost to the Moore County Raiders 7-2 at home Monday for their fourth loss of the season.

The Hornets kept the score close for most of the day, but the Raiders pulled away in the sixth inning to give them a loss in the district matchup.

Huntland head baseball coach Brent Davis said that bad luck on offense and some key misplays on defense played a major role in the final result.

“We hit the ball well. It’s just everything we hit hard was to somebody, and it made things a little tough on us,” he said. “In the field, we had a couple mistakes that gave up some runs and then struggled on the mound some with getting ahead of batters.”

The Raiders scored a pair of runs in the top of the first inning after a fielding error earlier in the frame gave them an extra out to work with.

The Raiders added another run on an RBI groundout in the top of the second to put the Hornets in an early 3-0 hole.

The Hornets got on the board in the bottom of the third when Eli Wiggs singled, stole second and came around to score on an RBI single by Evan Keller.

Keller drove in another run on an RBI single in the bottom of the fifth to make it a 3-2 game, and then he stole second and third to put himself into scoring position as the potential tying run.

However, Keller wouldn’t advance any further as the Hornets remained a step behind on the scoreboard.

The Raiders put up four runs in the top of the sixth as a bases-loaded walk, a hit batter with the bases loaded and a two-run single provided the scoring in the frame.

The Hornets loaded the bases in the bottom of the sixth and seventh innings, but they weren’t able to come away with any runs in either instance as they lost by five.

Trace Morris opened the game on the mound for the Hornets and pitched the first four innings with seven strikeouts, five hits, one earned run and two unearned runs allowed.

Eli Wiggs pitched the next 1 1-3 innings in relief with three strikeouts, two hits and four runs allowed. Kannon Lafevers came out of the bullpen for the last 1 2-3 innings with one strikeout, one hit and no runs allowed.

With the loss, the Hornets moved to 2-4 on the season and 0-1 in district play.

They will next play Tuesday at Moore County High School. First pitch is scheduled for 6 p.m.