BOILING SPRINGS, SC - With a spot in the championship game of the Steve Sanders Tournament on the line, the Boiling Springs baseball team got a strong pitching performance from two players to get a 2-0 win over Hillcrest.
With the victory over the Rams, a game that had been delayed for a few days by rain, the Bulldogs advanced to the championship game of the Steve Sanders Tournament at Duncan Park on Wednesday night against Blue Ridge. "We're tickled to be in this championship game with so many good teams and against a Blue Ridge team that is well coached," said Bulldogs head coach Jeff Lipscomb. "We're off to a good start but we remember it's still just preseason and keeping our eyes on the big prize at the end of the season. Hopefully we can keep our confidence throughout the season and we have a great group of kids from the top to the bottom and like we always say, why not us." After throwing pitchers Jackson Cole and Corbin Childers in the first two games of the tournament, the Bulldogs turned the ball over to youngster Aaron Sewell in his first varsity start and were not disappointed as he gave the Bulldogs four and a third innings while striking out seven batters and not allowing a run. "In his first varsity start to come out and pitch like that I have to take my hat off to him," said Lipscomb. "For him to step up in this big game to put us into the championship, it's great to see from a young kid like that. It's great seeing him out there competing, doing big things for us and just having success for himself in this game. Every year we have that one or two kids step up and take on a big role for us and Sewell did just that tonight." In relief of Sewell, the Bulldogs also got two and two thirds of relief pitching from second baseman Jackson Reel who got the save after not allowing a runner to get past first base and striking out two batters. "That's the role we're expecting from Jackson all year, if we're late in games and need outs, he's getting the ball," said Lipscomb. "He throws from so low and always throws strikes, he's such a weapon for us coming out of the bullpen late in games." On the offensive side of the game, the Bulldogs picked up their first run when first baseman Jackson Cole reached on a single and advanced to second base on a balk before scoring on a double to left centerfield by Justin Dawkins to take a 1-0 lead in the second inning. The Bulldogs added to their lead in the third inning when Luke Compton reached base on an infield single before advancing to third base and scoring on a double play to push the lead to 2-0. Boiling Springs had another opportunity in the fourth inning with bases loaded and no outs but a strikeout, a flyout, and a strong throw home by Rams outfielder RJ Groomster kept the Bulldogs from adding to their lead. Lipscomb said while his team had some opportunities to add to their lead, that you have to give credit to the Hillcrest pitchers on doing their jobs and not allowing the Bulldogs to score. "It helps our pitchers to get runs early and we just left too many men on base but that's baseball," said Lipscomb. "I do tip my hat to those Hillcrest pitchers though because they pitched us backwards and done a good job of it." With the Bulldogs advancing to the championship game, the Bulldogs will face Blue Ridge in Duncan Park at 8:00 PM while Spartanburg and Gaffney will compete in the third-place game at 6:00 PM. Comments are closed.
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