Selma Cloverleafs starter Terry Waters had been anxiously awaiting Sunday’s game with Americus. It was the outcome he could’ve done without.

Inspired by a solid pitching performance by left-hander Derrick Johnson, the Arrows got by the Cloverleafs 5-2, spoiling the 33-year-old Selma native’s debut and thwarting a Cloverleafs’ three-game sweep. It was their first loss of the season.

The Cloverleafs (2-1) begin an 18-day road swing on Tuesday, traveling to Baton Rouge. They return to play host to Montgomery on June 25.

“I really wanted to win this game, but that’s the game of baseball,” said Waters, who worked 5 1/3 innings and allowed two earned runs and nine hits.

Waters got into trouble in the top of the first inning, as an error by second baseman Desmond O’Quine to start the game helped put men on second and third with no outs.

Following an Ali Cepeda strikeout, Riley Israel came through at the plate for the Arrows (1-2), singling to drive in lead-off hitter Tilden Young. The next batter, Melvin Anderson, stepped to the plate and drove in Omar Morero, Sr., who had doubled earlier in the inning. Anderson’s sacrifice-fly gave the Arrows a 2-0 advantage, not to mention some much-needed momentum to start the game. All told, Waters threw 27 pitches in the first and allowed four out of his total nine hits.

“It was upsetting, but their hits just happened to fall in there,” Waters said.

Johnson (1-0), on the other hand, was stellar on the mound for the Arrows. Through six innings, the lefty from Albany, Ga. allowed just two hits. In all, he gave up six hits to notch his first victory of the season.

“My fastball was hitting its spots all day and my sidearm curve was working,” said Johnson, who struck out five in eight innings and was saddled with two earned runs.

“That’s what kept them off balance. I just felt like my confidence kept building as the game went on.”

The Cloverleafs didn’t do much to help much to help Waters (0-1) after he settled down. In fact, that could’ve been the problem, O’Quine said.

“I feel like we were pressing a little too much because we really wanted to help Terry get that win,” said O’Quine, who posted a 1-for-2 performance and drove in a run via a sac-fly to right field in the bottom of the eighth.

“Speaking for myself, I know after I made that error (in the first) I wanted to get those runs back for him.”