On Friday night the Boiling Springs baseball team needed to win two games to advance to the Upper State championship series and while they accomplished the first half of the goal, the second half fell just short as they dropped the second game 4-3 to Hillcrest in eight innings.
In the first game the Bulldogs came away with an 8-5 victory which started when they jumped ahead 1-0 in the top of the first inning after Tristan Smith reached base on a single before coming around to score on a single by Hudson Wilson. Hillcrest grabbed a 2-1 lead in the bottom of the second inning when they scored two runs with two outs including on a balk and a wild pitch. The Bulldogs responded in the top of the third inning with a little two out damage of their own when Jimmy Rosengrant hit a two run homer down the left field line to score both himself and Hudson Wilson giving Boiling Springs a 3-2 lead. The Rams added two runs in the bottom of the third and fourth innings to tie the game and then take a 4-3 lead over the Bulldogs heading into the fifth inning. Boiling Springs tied the game at 4-4 in the top of the fifth inning when Vance Wagner reached base on an error before Richie Lewis, who was pinch running for Wagner, came around to score on another Hillcrest error. Will Holmes gave the Bulldogs some cushion in the top of the sixth inning when he hit a three-run home run to left field scoring himself as well as Avery Stewart and Riley Douglas, who was pinch running for Tristan Smith, to give Boiling Springs a 7-4 lead. Hillcrest added a run back in the bottom of the sixth inning when Landon Thursten scored from second base on a Jacob Calvert double to left field to cut the Bulldogs lead to 7-5 after six innings. Boiling Springs added a run in the top of the seventh inning when Luke Compton reached base on an infield single down the third base line before stealing second base and coming around to score on a single to centerfield by Avery Stewart to give the Bulldogs an 8-5 victory. The Bulldogs got six strong innings of work from pitcher Tristan Smith who struck out seven Rams batters while allowing five runs to pick up the victory while Carter Sloand pitched the final inning to pick up the save. In game two Boiling Springs starting pitcher Will Holmes struck out six of the first seven batters that he faced to keep the game scoreless through the first two innings of play. Boiling Springs took the first lead of the game in the top of the third inning when Tristan Smith and Will Holmes were both hit by a pitch with two outs in the inning before Smith came around to score on a single by Vance Wagner to right field giving the Bulldogs a 1-0 lead and moving Holmes to third base. On the next at-bat Holmes came in to score on a balk by the Hillcrest pitcher to give Boiling Springs a 2-0 lead at the end of the third inning. Hillcrest cut the lead in half when they scored in the bottom of the fourth inning to cut the Bulldogs lead to 2-1. In the top of the fifth inning Boiling Springs pushed their lead back to 3-1 when Tristan Smith reached base on a single before advancing to third base on back-to-back wild pitches and coming in to score on a single to centerfield by Hudson Wilson. Hillcrest made the lead 3-2 in the bottom of the sixth inning but still trailed 3-2 heading into the bottom of the seventh inning after the Bulldogs were unable to score in the top of the inning. The Rams Conner David reached base in the bottom of the seventh inning off a Bulldogs error before advancing to second base on a hit by pitch and moving to third base on a sacrifice bunt by Hunter Jagodzinski. David tied the game at 3-3 when he scored on a sacrifice fly to left field by Jacob Calvert. In the top of the eighth inning the Bulldogs were unable to get a score which set up the Rams for a chance at their first lead of the game and also a chance to win the game. Brady Jeffcoat opened the eighth inning for the Rams by reaching base on an error and moved to third base after a walk and a hit by pitch. With the bases loaded and one out, Jeffcoat came home to score on single to left field by Conner David to give the Rams a 4-3 victory and punching their ticket to the Upper State championship series. Boiling Springs got another impressive pitching performance from senior Will Holmes who pitched six innings while allowing only two runs and striking out ten Rams batters. The Rams will move on to face Dorman in the Upper State championship series starting on Monday at Dorman. Comments are closed.
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