By Thomas Grant Jr.
Winning the Region 5-5A title earned second-ranked Blythewood a top seed in the Class 5A Division I Upper State baseball playoffs and a first-round bye.
While the Bengals awaited their Saturday opponent, Northeast neighbor Westwood made school history in its Best-of-Three Division II series.
Seeking the program’s first-ever playoff win Monday at Irmo, the Redhawks broke a 3-3 tie in the Top 6th on an RBI single by Elijah Smith.
In the Top 7th, Austin Jeffcoat sent a flyball in the direction of right fielder Ty Rivers. As Rivers reached to match the catch, he missed the ball which ended up hitting off his head.
With Rivers falling to the ground and unable to retrieve the ball, pinch runner Kurt Ragins scored to make it 5-3. Coaches and trainers immediately ran to the outfield to aid Rivers.
Lexington County Emergency Medical Services transported Rivers to the nearby hospital. The hour-long delay resulted in stoppage of play.
When the game resumed Tuesday at Westwood, Irmo rallied for two runs in the Bottom 7th to force extra innings. The Redhawks loaded the bases to start the eighth inning and Zachary Nelson connected on a go-ahead RBI single.
With two outs, Jayden Quarles forced in a run after getting hit by a pitch. Raelyn Seaton added insurance with a 2-run single and the Redhawks came away with the historic 9-5 victory.
Any celebration was muted as Westwood looked to close out the series with a Game Two win. Instead, an inspired Yellow Jackets’ team which had Rivers’ jersey hanging in the dugout erupted for six runs in the first inning.
Irmo opened up a 12-0 lead and appeared headed to an easy win to even the series. Instead, Westwood slowly crawled back starting with a four-run rally in the fourth inning.
Down 14-4 in the Bottom 6th, the Redhawks capitalized off six of 17 walks as part of an eight-run rally. Xavier DeJesus had a 2-run double and both Quarles and Nathan Caldwell singled home runs to close the gap.
Jeffcoat accounted for four of his team’s 17 drawn walks. Irmo held on for the 15-12 win to force Thursday’s deciding game.
Spring Valley also finds itself playing a deciding game in the Division I District 3 playoffs in Columbia.
Down 4-2 Monday in Game One at home to West Ashley the Vikings scored seven unanswered runs for a 9-4 win in Game One. Jacob Smoak went 2-4 with three RBI to lead Spring Valley. His go-ahead solo home run in the Bottom 5th capped a 3-run inning.
In Game Two in Charleston, the Wildcats turned the tables on the Vikings. Trailing 4-0 after four innings, they scored twice in the fifth and sixth innings to tie the game.
An intentional walk loaded the bases for West Ashley in the Bottom 7th. With Bruce Mullinex on third base, a throwing error by the pitcher allowed him to score the winning run for the Wildcats in a 5-4 win.
In SCISA, Cardinal Newman advanced in the SCISA Class 4A Lower State playoffs. A walk off 2-run homer by Alvin Murray III. his second of the game, gave the Cardinals a 5-3 win over Trinity Collegiate School.
This sets up a winner’s bracket matchup Thursday at home with Hilton Head Christian.
S.C. BASEBALL COACHES ASSOCIATION TOP 10 POLLS
5A Division 1
1. James Island, 2. Blythewood, 3. Dorman, 4. Stratford, 5. Lexington, 6. Fort Dorchester, 7. Dutch Fork, 8. Boiling Springs, 9. JL Mann, T10. River Bluff& Summerville
SOFTBALL
Fifth-seed Blythewood opened the Class 5A Division I playoffs with a 12-2 win Monday over Mauldin.
Raygan Segars went 2-3 with 3 RBI and Molly Wolf drove in four runs, including a 3-run homer in the first inning. Ashley Duncan and Cici Martin also homered for the Lady Bengals.
With the win, they traveled to Clover Wednesday.
Both Spring Valley and Westwood fell to the loser’s bracket in its respective brackets. Spring Valley was defeated 12-2 by Wando and traveled to Stratford Wednesday in a Division I District Four elimination game.
In Division II, Westwood’s comeback from four runs down fell short to Conway 9-8. Annarea Wilson went 2-3 with four RBI and Azaria Belton went 2-4 with an RBI for the Lady Redhawks.
They were scheduled to play host to Myrtle Beach in an elimination game.
(Photos by Thomas Grant Jr.)
