By Thomas Grant Jr.
The Blythewood and Spring Valley baseball teams advanced in the S.C. High School League baseball playoffs on Tuesday.
The Bengals advanced to the winner’s bracket of Class 5A District One. They defeated J.L. Mann 9-4 as it rebounded from a 2-0 deficit in the Top 1st with five runs in the bottom half of the inning.
The number three was magical for Blythewood leftfielder Sammy Franklin. He went 3-3 with three RBI.
Chance Johnson was 2-4 with two RBI and pitchers Bowman Rummel and Andrew Blackwell combined for seven strikeouts. Blythewood will now await either J.L. Mann, Dutch Fork, or J.F. Byrnes on Friday in the District final.
In District Three, Spring Valley defeated Carolina Forest in eight innings to avoid elimination.
Brady Evans’ 2-run double in the Top 8th broke a 4-4 tie. The Vikings’ starting pitcher was relieved by Jackson Williams who pitched three scoreless innings for the victory.
Daniel Bledsoe and Ben Pierce both drove in two runs for Spring Valley, who faced Wando on Tuesday.
SOFTBALL PLAYOFFS
Clover 10, Blythewood 5
St. James 6, Westwood 0
The 2025 seasons end for both teams.
