At least Mark Huggins can finally wash his baseball pants now that the Bowdon High School baseball team’s 10-game winning streak is over.

That’s about the only positive the Red Devils’ coach could come away with from Tuesday evening’s Region 6-A opener against Bremen.

No superstitions could save Bowdon from suffering its first loss of the season, 12-2 in six innings, in a showdown between two of the top-ranked Class A teams in the state at W.C. Roop Field.

Bremen, ranked No. 3 in the latest Class A coaches’ poll, put seven runs on the scoreboard before Bowdon (10-1, 0-1 Region 6-A) had recorded its fifth out. The Blue Devils finished with 15 hits and received a complete game, four-hit performance on the mound from pitcher Jim Mauk.

Above all, though, Bremen coach Mark Clark was impressed with his team’s defensive play.

“The last game we played, we stunk it up defensively. We threw it all over the place,” Clark said. “We played defense (Tuesday) and made all the routine plays and hit the ball.”

The Blue Devils (9-1, 1-0 Region 6-A) didn’t make any errors in the field behind Mauk, who got the majority of his outs on the ground.

Bremen didn’t hit the ball hard early, but managed to consistently put it in play and drive runs in. With two outs in the first inning, Mauk and Caleb Westmoreland each drove in a pair of runs with singles up the right field gap.

Brett Wright tacked on two more runs in the second with a double that bounced off the pitching mound into center field. Jay Wade then hit an RBI double to left field that scored Wright and sent Bowdon starter Jason Jennings to the dugout.

“It was definitely the Blue Devils’ day and not the Red Devils’ day,” Huggins said. “Especially the first inning or two, they had some balls that were just out of glove’s reach or we got a little piece of leather on it and were unable to finish the whole play for outs. To their credit, they certainly made it hurt.”

Jennings lasted just 1.1 innings for the Red Devils, allowing six earned runs on seven hits while walking two and striking out one.

Jacob Parson pitched better in relief, but gave up a two-out, two-run homer to Cal Hardie in the third that ballooned Bremen’s lead to 9-0.

The only inning the Red Devils could produce offensively was the fourth when Will Young and Trevor Pollard both crossed home plate. After allowing a leadoff single to Derrick Norton in the first, the fourth inning was the only other time Mauk gave up a hit in the game.

Bowdon, ranked No. 2  in the coaches’ poll, had played in only one close game leading up to its Region 6-A opener. The Red Devils entered Tuesday’s game averaging nearly 11 runs per game and had allowed just 13 runs all season.

Playing catch-up isn’t something the Red Devils have had much experience with this year and Mauk made sure the Blue Devils kept a comfortable lead.

“He’s a smart pitcher, he’s a senior and he kept mixing it up real well,” Clark said. “He doesn’t overpower anybody, but he kept mixing it up and did a great job.”

Mauk also had a big game at the plate, going 3-for-4 with four RBI. Wright (3-for-4, 2 RBI, 3 runs), Wade (3-for-4, 2 RBI, 2 runs), Jesse Keaton (2-for-2, 3 runs) and Grady Bell (2-for-3, run) also played big roles offensively for Bremen, which plays at Mt. Zion on Friday.

The Blue Devils have been even more potent at the plate this season than their region rivals from Bowdon, averaging just under 12 runs per game and scoring at least nine in every game besides for their one loss, a 10-4 setback at Landmark Christian.

For Bowdon, Huggins is looking forward to cleaner baseball pants and a better result in Bowdon’s next Region 6-A game, which takes place Friday at home against Trion.

“This game at this point, for us, is definitely a bad start to the region,” Huggins said. “Hopefully it should inspire us for our next region game. We’ve lost a game, we’re praying that we don’t lose the lesson that this game has given us.”

In other baseball action:

Cartersville 13, Central 3: John Decker went 2-for-3 with two RBI in Central’s six-inning Region 6-AAA road loss Tuesday. As a team, the Lions (3-7, 0-3 Region 6-AAA) had five hits and struck out seven times. Steven Smith took the loss on the mound.

Carrollton Middle School 4-10, Cedartown 2-6: The Trojans swept a doubleheader from Cedartown, 4-2 and 10-6, Tuesday at Barry Carroll Field.

In the first game, Carrollton got all the runs it would need by scoring three times in the bottom of the second inning. The big blow was delivered by Joshua Barge, who drove in two runs with a two-out single. Dylan Ross scattered six hits while striking out five in the complete game victory.

In the second game, Carrollton trailed 5-4 entering the fourth inning but batted around to score six runs on two hits, three walks and four Cedartown errors. Cameron Holbrooke, Zach Gordon and Barge scored two runs each in the victory for the Trojans. Barge worked the final 1.2 innings on the mound to pick up the win.