The Tigers ended the season on the upswing, beating Desert Christian (5-15-1) in Coach Nathan Morales’ final game, but not before taking a beating by the San Carlos Braves in the final week of regular-season high school baseball action.

The home tilt against San Carlos (9-11) that took place on Tuesday, April 23 started out competitive as No. 11 Trace Hill took to the hill in place of starter Jace O’Connor (No. 13) who was unavailable to pitch.

Hill started the game giving up a single up the middle to Braves pitcher No. 7 Eliah Victor, who stole two bases as Hill struck out two of the next three batters around a fly-out to left.

The Tigers went quietly in the bottom of the frame, despite a pair of Braves errors on leadoff hitter No. 5 James Carrillo’s grounder to short and a pickoff attempt that put the runner on second with no outs.

Victor too, sandwiched a lineout to second between two strikeouts to escape the inning with the score sitting at 0-0.

In a preview of things to come, Tiger pitcher Hill pitched himself into difficulty in the second, walking No. 21 Ty Whitesinger. An error by Globe right fielder No. 3 Seth Durbin put runners on first and second, but a fielder’s choice took out Whitesinger.

Tiger catcher No. 16 Seth Fane helped control the bleeding, catching Braves No. 17 Lucas Zospah in an attempt to steal third. A walk to No. 18 Xaivior Classay didn’t hurt the Tiger cause, as No. 4 Malaki Martinez popped up to first for the final out.

The Tigers went down 1-2-3 in the bottom of the second to enter the top of the third still knotted at 0-0.

But the third inning was when things started to come apart for the Tigers. Victor started the inning with a triple to center that rolled around for a while before it was corralled by the Globe outfield. Victor scored on the play when the ball was thrown into the Globe dugout for an error on the play and a score of 1-0 San Carlos.

Braves second baseman No. 1 Repport Cassadore singled to center and stole a base. A popup to second by No. 13 Charles Mendoza, Jr. gave the Tigers the first out of the inning, but on the following play, Braves No. 14 grounded out to the pitcher sending Cassadore to third with two outs. A walk to Whitesinger followed by an error on a ball hit up the middle by Zospah scored the Braves second run of the inning.

The Tigers went quietly in the bottom of the third, and the Braves broke it open in the bottom of the frame.

Hill started the fourth by plunking Classay with a pitch. The runner was erased at second on a fielder’s choice on a grounder to second by Martinez, but after a walk to Victor, Carrillo was sent in to pitch for the Tigers.

Carrillo faced five batters, recording only one out.

A walk to Cassadore set the tone, when a single up the middle and an error on a ball hit by Mendoza put runners on the corners with a 4-0 San Carlos lead. Errors on pickoff attempts cleared the bases gave the Braves a 6-0 lead.

A pair of walks ended Carrillo’s stint on the mound, giving way to No. 10 Ben Thompson, who promptly hit No. 9 Deandre Dude and walked Classay to score Zospah. San Carlos led 7-0 at that point.

The Braves gave up a run to the Tigers in the bottom of the fifth and put the game away in the sixth.

Thompson walked Classay and was yanked for Durbin, who promptly hit, Martinez, the first batter he faced, to put runners on first and second. Just when it looked like Durbin was going to get out of the inning with minimal damage, things went off the rails for the diminutive athlete.

A wild pitch advanced the runners, but a pickoff of the runner at third, followed by a strikeout gave the Braves two outs with runners at first and second. A walk to Mendoza followed by a single to No. 14 Ivan Stevens, Jr. made it 9-1. Durbin finished his stint on the mound, hitting Whitesinger to drive in a run for a Braves 10-1 lead.

No. 12 Michael Marquez took to the hill, but had little control, giving up five runs with a combination of walks, singles a wild pitch and an error.

The Tigers struck out in order for a Braves 15-1 mercy victory.

But the next day, Wednesday, April 24, the Tigers played a makeup game with the Desert Christian Eagles that gave the team a positive end to a disappointing season.

O’Connor was back on the hill for the Tigers, pitching through an error to set the Eagles down in order to start the game.

The Tigers didn’t waste any time roughing up the hapless Eagles, scoring three in the bottom of the frame. Globe scored three more in the bottom of the second for a 6-0 lead.

In the end, the Tigers won by a score of 12-7 for a positive end to a lost season.

The game represented the last for Morales, who will move back to his native New Mexico for a job opportunity there.

“The future looks bright for this good young core coming back next year,” Morales said. “It was great to go out with a win: The seniors deserved it; the team deserved it. They worked hard all year and continued to fight and get better.”

The Tigers will graduate three players, Carrillo, Thompson and Hill, but should retain the remaining core of the lineup.

Globe’s Gavin Meeks took a turn pitching in the Tigers’ loss to San Carlos on April 23.

Braves pitcher Eliah Victor was dealing from the mound.

Tigers John Denver eases into third base in the final game of the season, a win against Desert Christian.

Jacob Sukosky (24) takes second on a double in the final game.