WARDELL, Mo. -- The Advance Hornets received plenty of power from Jeremy Limbaugh, but they could not overcome an eight-run deficit in a Class 1 sectional baseball game Wednesday against Holcomb.

Limbaugh hit two home runs and drove in three runs, but Advance suffered a 9-6 loss.

Advance (18-3) was coming off an emotional 2-1 district championship win against Oran, which had been to the state final four the last three seasons.

Sophomore pitcher Trent Moses was Advance's starting pitcher for the contest, played at North Pemiscot High School.

Moses had a tough couple of innings before he found his groove. He struck out seven in the contest, but early walks and errors proved costly.

"We were given some breaks early," Holcomb coach Justin Dobbins said. "When you reach this level in play, every team is good, and if they give you a break or two you just have to jump on them."

The first break came in the top of the second inning, when a one-out walk to No. 7 hitter Jake McKuin -- the third allowed by Moses -- led to a five-run inning. McKuin moved to second after an error allowed Jody McCallister to reach. A walk to Kellen Story loaded the bases for Jackie Davidson, who put his team up with a two-RBI single. A fielder's choice, another error and a single scored three more runs to make the score 5-0.

A couple of errors by Holcomb in the bottom of the second allowed Advance to load the bases, but Holcomb pitcher Cody Adams escaped the jam.

Advance ended up stranding nine in the game.

Holcomb tacked on a couple of more runs in the third and and two more in the fourth and was sitting on a 9-1 lead after four innings.

Advance's lone run, scored in the third inning, came on the first of Limbaugh's bombs over the left field fence.

Advance batted around in the fifth, scoring three runs before leaving the bases loaded.

The Hornets scored a couple more in the sixth on Limbaugh's second home run of the game.

Moses retired nine of the last 10 batters he faced, but Advance didn't have enough offense to pull off a come-from-behind win.

"We battled hard today," Advance coach Bob Moses said. "We managed to battle back, but it was just too big of a hole."

Advance had opened the season with 14 straight wins.

"We never were expected to be playing at this level early in the year," said Moses, in his second season, "but we played like champions and are looking forward to next year, when we all return."

Holcomb will play Friday against Thayer, which defeated Valley of Caledonia 10-6.