ROCK HILL, SC - After starting the district playoffs with a loss to Rock Hill, the Boiling Springs baseball team battled back from the elimination bracket to defeat Rock Hill twice getting a little revenge while winning the district playoff on Monday night and advancing to the Upper State championship series.
In both games it took the Bulldogs extra innings to win the game and between the two games it took the Bulldogs 17 innings to advance to the Upper state championship series. Boiling Springs opened the first game holding a 9-3 lead after the top of the fifth inning before Rock Hill scored six runs over the next two innings to tie the game at 9-9. In the top of the eighth inning, Justin Dawkins opened the inning with a single before advancing to second base when Emory Horton was hit-by-a-pitch and then loading the bases when Chansen Cole reached base on an error. Dawkins gave the Bulldogs the lead back when he scored on a wild pitch to Luke Compton, who reloaded the bases after a walk of his own, giving the Bulldogs a 10-9 lead. The Bulldogs pushed their lead to 11-9 when Horton scored when Aaron Sewell, who had come on to pitch in relief, reached base on an error by the Bearcats. Sewell picked up the win on the mound after pitching one and two-thirds innings in relief. After taking the lead the Bulldogs kept the Bearcats off the scoreboard in the bottom of the eighth inning as Josh Kanipe came on in relief to earn the save while striking out one Rock Hill batter. Bulldogs starter Jackson Cole went five and a third innings giving up three earned runs on six hits while striking out five batters. Emory Horton had a big night at the plate for the Bulldogs in game one going two for three with four RBIs and scoring two runs of his own while Justin Dawkins went two for two at the plate while scoring three runs. Hudson Wilson also had a strong first game for the Bulldogs as he went three for five at the plate in the game. With the Bulldogs accomplishing their first goal of the night, it was time for them to turn to their second goal of winning game two and with the season on the line they turned to two of their youngest pitchers to bear the load. Boiling Springs pitcher Emory Horton started game two for the Bulldogs where he pitched three innings while only allowing one earned run and striking out two batters. The Bulldogs then turned to Josh Kanipe who went five innings of relief not allowing an earned run and striking out three Bearcat batters. While the Bulldogs were getting strong pitching performances from two sophomores, they got the first lead of the game in the bottom of the first inning when Hudson Wilson singled home Luke Compton from first to give the Bulldogs a 1-0 lead. Rock Hill eventually took a 2-1 lead in the top of the fifth inning but the Bulldogs weren't going to let them have a lead for long. In the bottom of the fifth inning the Bulldogs retook the lead when Landon Stevens and Luke Compton, who were at second and third base, scored on a single to left field by Jackson Cole. The Bearcats tied the game at 3-3 in the top of the sixth inning as that was the last score of the game in regular innings as both teams kept the other off the scoreboard. After Aaron Sewell came on in relief kept Rock Hill off the board in the top of the ninth inning, the Bulldogs got back to work offensively in the bottom half of the inning. The Bulldogs were able to load the bases with one out in the bottom of the ninth inning with Landon Stevens at the plate. With Stevens working the count, a ball three pitch got pass the catcher allowing Justin Dawkins, who was at third base, to bolt home and send the Bulldogs to the Upper State championship series. While Sewell only pitched one inning of relief in game two (two and a third innings overall), he also picked up his second victory of the night as he was the winning pitcher of record for both games. Jackson Cole led the Bulldogs at the plate in game two as he had two RBIs while Hudson Wilson had the other RBI in the game. Boiling Springs will start the Upper State championship series on Thursday when they travel to Blythewood, who defeated Spartanburg 3-2 on Monday night. At the time of this story being posted the game time was still yet to be determined. Comments are closed.
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