For six innings Tuesday, the Central and Jackson baseball teams were locked in a tight, classic pitcher's duel.

Then came the seventh inning, and pandemonium ensued.

Josh Morse's two-run single keyed a five-run top of the inning for Central, and Jackson saw its three-run rally in the bottom of the seventh fall just short as the Tigers held on for a thrilling 6-4 victory at Whitey Herzog Stadium.

Central coach Tatum Kitchen was lamenting before the game how his team was failing to get hits with runners in scoring position. Morse's single came with one out and the bases loaded and helped open the floodgates for the Tigers' big inning.

"You get behind [in the count] 2-2 with a couple called strikes, sometimes you get your head down," said Kitchen about Morse's at-bat. "To his credit, boy, he battled and had a pretty base hit. We managed to get two runs in there, and it kind of got us going."

Central coach Tatum Kitchen, left, and Jackson coach Brian Austin talk with the umpires before Tuesday’s game. Kitchen was facing his former team for the first time since becoming the Tigers’ coach after the 2013 season.

Morse's hit was a solid line drive to right, and the Tigers' catcher reacted by clapping his hands as he headed toward first base.

"I just knew we needed one really badly," Morse said. "I knew I just had to try to stay with it and try to take it to right field. That's what happened, and we got a couple runs out of it."

Matt Chism followed with a run-scoring single to left, and Morse came around to score when a throw to first, in an effort to get Chism who had made a big turn at the base, got away from the Indians' first baseman. Justin Vaught's bloop single to center later in the inning plated Ryan Tegel with the Tigers' fifth run of the inning.

Defensive miscues have plagued Jackson for much of the early season, and Tuesday was no different as the Indians committed three errors while dropping to 2-4 on the season.

"The seventh inning was frustrating because, right now, our struggle has been [defensively] in the infield," Jackson coach Bryan Austin said. "We've just got to continue to plug forward, get better, continue to work. We go to Windsor [today], and hopefully get a 'W' there."

Until that point, Hagerty and Jackson starter Michael Horschim were doing their best to limit scoring opportunities. Central (4-4) scored once in the second when Morse reached on an error and stole second. With one out, Tegel walked and, following a strikeout, Clayton Reynolds singled to left. Morse held up at third, but Tegel was caught in a rundown between second and third. An errant throw back to second allowed Morse to score.

Jackson tied it in the bottom of the fifth when Tyler Slinkard walked, stole second, stopped at third on Cameron Duke's single before scoring on Jordan Hadden's squeeze bunt.

Through six innings, Hagerty allowed just one run on four hits, walking three and striking out 11. Horschim had allowed one unearned run on four hits, walking four and striking out eight.

"Chase Hagerty is a great pitcher," Austin said. "He's one of the best in the area, and I felt that Michael Horschim went toe-to-toe with him."

When Horschim allowed two straight batters to reach base in the seventh, Austin sent in Jon Litchfield, who induced a potential double-play grounder to short that was bobbled, loading the bases and setting the stage for Morse's hit.

Facing a 6-1 deficit in the bottom of the seventh, Jackson refused to fold. Duke led off with a double to left, and Hadden's single to center put runners at the corners. Hadden stole second, and Duke scored when the throw to second sailed into the outfield. One out later, Landon Mills tripled to deep center, scoring Hadden. Mills also came home on a throwing error on the play.

Jackson's Dante Vandeven came to the plate representing the game-tying run, and had the home crowd on its feet with a drive to deep right that landed just foul.

That's when Hagerty settled down, freezing Vandeven on a called third strike on a sharp breaking ball and enticing Ben Maudie to ground meekly to second for the final out.

"I didn't care how tired I was," Hagerty said about wanting to pitch a complete game. "I was ready for them to hit it, and I was ready for us to make some plays. But they hit it hard and they put it in the gaps. I give credit to them, but I'm glad our team could pull together at the end and finish with the win."

Kitchen saw his team break a four-game losing streak after winning its first three games of the season.

"I think honestly what today was, was two teams trying to figure out how to win," Kitchen said. "We got that lead, and they came out swinging, but that's how high school baseball is. You just never know until the last out. We knew Jackson was going to go hard all the way. ... The tying run at the plate, the middle of the lineup, they swung it the whole game good."

Hagerty allowing four runs -- all earned -- on seven hits, walking three and striking out 12.

The win was special for Kitchen, who coached the Jackson squad the past four seasons before accepting the post at Central following the retirement of long-time coach Steve Williams.

"We knew it was going to be a special game," Kitchen said. "It was a big game because it was conference [and for] district [seeding], and personally, because I know a lot of these guys over there."

Central 010 000 5 -- 6 7 3

Jackson 000 010 3 -- 4 7 3

WP -- Chase Hagerty (2-1). LP -- Michael Horschim (2-1). 2B -- Cameron Duke (J). 3B -- Landon Mills (J). Multiple hits -- Jackson: Duke 2-3. Records: Central 4-4, Jackson 2-4.