Lexington baseball jumps to No. 3 after 2-1 week

Brookland-Cayce falls out of Top 10

Staff Report
Posted 3/15/23

The Lexington baseball team climbed to No. 3 in the latest rankings by the S.C. Baseball Coaches Association on Monday after going 2-1 last week.

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Lexington baseball jumps to No. 3 after 2-1 week

Brookland-Cayce falls out of Top 10

Posted

The Lexington baseball team climbed to No. 3 in the latest rankings by the S.C. Baseball Coaches Association on Monday after going 2-1 last week. Their lone loss came to No. 1 Berkeley on March 17.

The Wildcats opened with a 10-0 win over Charlotte Christian on March 9. Lexington needed just six hits to score 10 runs, as they drew 10 walks in the rout. Gabe Herold powered the offense, going 2-3 with a home run, driving in five runs and scoring twice.

Three Lexington pitchers combined for a two-hit shutout. Reese Marcum earned the win after two hitless frames, he walked one. Ethan Krawiecki faced five batters, allowing one walk and striking out three. Cam Sutton got the final five outs, allowing two hits and striking out a pair.

The Top 3 matchup between Lexington and Berkeley was a barn burner.

After each team scored twice in the first, the Wildcats took the game over in the second. They dropped three runs in the second and held that 5-2 lead until the sixth inning, when they tacked on two more runs to extend their lead to 9-2.

The Wildcats then collapsed in the seventh, as Berkeley exploded four seven runs in the inning, bashing three home runs in the process. That tied the game at 9-9. Lexington couldn’t regain the lead in the bottom of the inning, sending the game into extras.

Berkeley then won the game in the eighth as Lexington’s bullpen continued to struggle. After a leadoff walk, a Stag reached base on a failed fielder’s choice. An intentional walk loaded the bases before a hit batter and a walk gave Berkeley an 11-9 lead that they wouldn’t surrender.

Brandon Cromer led Lexington offensively, going 2-5 with a home run, driving in three runs.

Sutton took the loss, allowing the final two runs despite not allowing a hit. Jackson Burton and Zach Miller both had excellent performances on the mound, combining two allowed two hits and no runs in six innings of work. Burton struck out seven in four innings.

Lexington followed that with a 10-0 win over Chapin to open region play with a 10-0 win Monday.

The game was actually close throughout. Lexington took a 2-0 lead in the second and didn’t add to it until the sixth with one more run. They then blew the game open in the top of the seventh with eight more runs.

Marcum and Krawiecki combined for a two-hit shutout. Marcum earned the win, allowing the two hits in five innings of work. He walked four and struck out six. Krawiecki had two hitless frames, striking out two.

Brayden Jeffcoat put the cherry on top of the win with a grand slam in the seventh to lead the Wildcat offense. Patrick Evans added three RBIs, while Cromer had two hits, scored twice and drove in a run.

River Bluff opens region with win over White Knoll

The River Bluff baseball team improved to 5-1 on the season with a 6-2 win over White Knoll, earning their first victory in Region IV-5A in the process.

After grabbing a 1-0 lead in the first on a Thomas Powell home run, River Bluff surrendered runs in the second and third to get in a 2-1 hole. After a scoreless fourth, it was all Gators. River Bluff put up three runs in the fifth and two more in the sixth to run away with the win.

Myles Proffitt and Weston Grant led the offense with two hits apiece, each driving in two runs. Grant had a pair of doubles, while Proffitt had a triple and a single, scoring twice. As a team, River Bluff finished with seven hits and drew five walks.

Jack Rivers earned the win, allowing one run on four hits and two walks, striking out five. He came in to relieve Matthew Garris, who allowed one run on two hits, three walks and a hit batter in 1 2/3 innings. He struck out three.

White Knoll had six hits and drew five walks, but couldn’t cash in with extra base hits. Brett Cassan had their lone double, scoring a run. Chance Culley had two hits to lead the team.

Bailey Buol suffered the loss, allowing four runs on five hits and four walks in 4 2/3 innings of work. Ty Bennett didn’t allow a hit but allowed a run on a walk and a hit batter while getting one out. Culley also pitched two innings, allowing one run on two hits.

White Knoll was coming off an 11-0 win over Aiken on March 15 last week, led by a 3-3 performance by Beau Hollins at the plate. He drove in four runs while homering twice. Wyatt Meldrim added two RBIs, going 1-1. Hollins also earned the win on the mound, scattering two hits and a walk in three innings of shutout ball. Garris and Rivers each added a shutout inning.

White Knoll entered the game after consecutive losses to Spring Valley last week, falling 9-6 and 12-3.

Gilbert tops Pelion after being swept by Dreher

The Gilbert baseball team ended a three-game skid with a 5-1 win over Pelion on Monday.

The Indians struck first, scoring twice in the second and to more in the third. The two squads traded runs in the fourth and fifth as Gilbert capped off the win.

Jake Torbett earned the win, allowing one unearned run on three hits and a hit batter. He struck out five. Callum Roberts closed out the win with a hitless frame.

Ethan Ethredge and Matt Edwards each had two hits in the win. Gilbert finished with seven hits as a team, drawing five walks while three batters were hit.

The Indians entered the matchup after two tough losses to Dreher. They fell 5-1 on March 7 in a game that was tight until the sixth. Gilbert struck first with a run in the second, but Dreher responded with two runs in the bottom of the frame. The next three innings were scoreless before Dreher tacked on three more runs in the sixth to put the game away.

Gilbert managed just two hits in the loss. Torbett took the loss, allowing four runs while pitching into the sixth. He surrendered six hits, three walks and two hit batters.

They followed that with a 16-0 to Dreher on March 9.

Brookland-Cayce swept by Summerville, falls out of Top 10

Preseason Top 10 Brookland-Cayce fell out of the rankings entirely on Monday after falling to 2-4 with a pair of losses to new No. 7 Summerville last week.

The first matchup was played March 7 when BC fell 6-1. The Bearcats got in a 2-0 hole in the first before getting on the board with a run in the second. Summerville responded with two in the third and tacked on two more runs in the fifth to cap off the win.

Brookland-Cayce finished with five hits. B.J. Etheridge scored the lone run, while Jackson Thomas drove him in.

Robert McMillan took the loss, allowing four runs on five hits and two walks. He struck out eight in four innings of work. Tanner Libbey pitched the final two innings, allowing two runs on two hits and two walks.

The Bearcats suffered a similar fate on March 9, falling 4-1. Each team scored a run in the first two innings and the game stalled at 1-1 until the fifth, when Summerville scored three runs to put the game away.

Brookland-Cayce managed just two hits offensively. Etheridge took the loss on the mound. He allowed all four runs, but only two were earned. He scattered seven hits and two walks in five innings of work. He struck out five. Brogan Sox pitched two shutout frames in relief, striking out a pair.

Swansea sweeps doubleheader with North

Swansea rolled to a pair of wins over North on March 7, winning 16-3 before a 10-0 win.

Jacob Hair and Kraeton Steppe each drove in three runs in the win. Andrew Studebaker pitched all three innings in the win, striking out three.

Trey Briscoe then threw a three-inning no-hitter in the second game of the doubleheader, striking out eight in the process. Jacob Harper drove in three runs and Briscoe added two more RBIs in the win.

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