WACO -- Even the Brazos Christian seniors who have a state championship under their belts were a little nervous in their return to the TAPPS state baseball tournament Friday.

But after falling behind by a run early, the Eagles shook it off for a 12-7 victory over Bellville Faith Academy (12-3) in the Class A semifinals at Waco ISD's Veterans Field.

Brazos Christian (14-7) will look to defend their title at 10 a.m. Saturday against district rival Huntsville Alpha Omega at Mary Hardin-Baylor in Belton. Alpha Omega beat Dallas Covenant 12-2 to advance.

Shortstop Mike Ford had three hits, including two doubles, and third baseman Jacob Davis went 3 for 4 with a walk and two runs scored. But both veteran Eagles admitted to some early stomach-churning before settling down to business.

"I was a little nervous at times," Ford said. "I was kind of shaky the first two at-bats, and coach told me to relax and get up there and just find one I could drive. That's what I finally did."

Ford ripped doubles in the sixth and seventh innings to help Brazos Christian score four insurance runs.

"I was a little nervous leading off the state tournament," Davis said. "I came out there and got a little break, got lucky and then stole a base and started feeling good about the game from there on."

Davis' first hit fell harmlessly between the pitcher and the first baseman and helped Brazos Christian score two first-inning runs.

But Faith Academy (12-3) answered with three runs in the bottom of the first to put the Eagles on their heels.

"It started very slow," Brazos Christian coach Rick Osborne said. "We didn't play very good defense in the bottom of the first, and they scored three. It was definitely a little slower start than we wanted, but we got it back in the top of the second."

Indeed, Brazos Christian batted around for five runs in the top of the second, taking a 7-3 lead the Eagles would never relinquish.

Nathan Toler walked to open the second, and starting pitcher Jordan Lightfoot doubled to left-center, scoring Toler after interference was called on the Knights' third baseman. With two outs, Davis doubled, scoring pinch-runner Sheldon Sutphen. John Michael Toler walked, then Ford hit a fly ball to right that was dropped, scoring two. Ford crossed the plate on an error by the catcher to put Brazos Christian up 7-3.

The Eagles made it 8-3 in the third and chased starting pitcher Kyle Woodle in the process. Brian Brown hit a one-out infield single and scored on an another infield single by Ford. The Eagles could have had more but had two runners thrown out on the basepaths.

In all, Brazos Christian had six runners thrown out, two at home.

"We are an aggressive team, but we made some mistakes on the basepaths that we are going to talk about here in a few minutes and try to fix," Osborne said. "I think we were a little bit complacent at the plate also. I don't know how many called third strikes we had, but no matter how many it was too many. We need to adjust better to what the zone is."

The Eagles got three insurance runs in the sixth, which came in handy after Faith Academy's Alex Hunter clubbed a three-run homer in the bottom half of the inning.

Ford, a stabilizing factor in the field, led off the top of the sixth with a double. Dunlap, who had a two-run double in the first, reached on an error by the center fielder. Nathan Toler singled in Ford, and Lightfoot plated Dunlap with a squeeze bunt. Chad Milburn then singled in Toler.

"A lot of the freshmen and sophomores picked it up for the seniors this game," Davis said. "Will Dunlap hit the ball well and Nathan Toler did well behind the plate."

The Eagles also got good play in the outfield from John Yezak in center, who made three catches and held Knight base runners from advancing with strong throws. Brown also made a nice throw from the outfield to catch a runner trying to stretch a single into a double to open the seventh.

Lightfoot (5-2) pitched six innings for the win.

"He battled well," said Osborne. "It wasn't his best game, but he did his job."

Lightfoot struck out four and walked three, while giving up eight hits and six runs.

Kyle Garrett got the final three outs in relief.

NOTES -- Dunlap (6-3) will start for the Eagles against Alpha Omega, which won three straight state titles from 2004-06. ... Brazos Christian has won two of three games against Alpha Omega this season, including a tiebreaker game for the district title. ... All nine Eagle starters reached base, with seven getting hits.

Brazos Christian 12, Bellville Faith Academy 7

Brazos Christian 251 103 1 -- 12 13 1

Faith Academy 300 013 0 -- 7 10 4

Jordan Lightfoot, Kyle Garrett (7) and Nathan Toler; Kyle Woodle, Alex Hunter (3), Kyle Tomlinson (4) and Tomlinson, Weber (4). WP -- Lightfoot (5-2). LP -- Woodle. 2B -- Jacob Davis 2, Michael Ford 2, Will Dunlap, Jordan Lightfoot, Kyle Tomlinson. HR -- Hunter.

• Richard Croome's e-mail address is richard.croome@theeagle.com.