On Monday the Boiling Springs baseball team welcomed spring break with a double header against Union County as they defeated the Yellow Jackets 12-11 in the nightcap after falling 4-2 in the earlier game.
"As bad as we played in the first game we still had a chance and went into that final inning down five in the seventh inning of the second game but it says a lot about these kids that they don't quit," said Bulldogs head coach Jeff Lipscomb. "As the second half of the season comes around if they don't quit and just keep battling who knows where that will take us." In game one the Bulldogs were down 2-0 going into the bottom of the sixth inning but a flair hit to left field by Avery Stewart that dropped between the shortstop and leftfield allowed two Boiling Springs runners to score and tie the game at 2-2. In the top of the eighth inning Union took advantage of Boiling Springs errors to take the lead and walk away with a 4-2 victory. Union started game two scoring taking a 2-0 lead in the top of the first inning on back-to-back doubles by Willie Jeter and Bryant Whitlock that scored both Jeter and TJ Betenbaugh, who reached base on a single of his own. Boiling Springs responded in the bottom half of the inning as Hudson Wilson reached base on a walk before moving to third on a double to right centerfield by Davis Starnes. Wilson came around to score on a sacrifice fly to centerfield by Tristan Smith before Starnes also scored on a sacrifice fly to centerfield by Will Holmes to tie the game at 2-2 when the first inning came to an end. The Yellow Jackets scored in four straight innings to start the game as they pushed their lead to 9-2 when the top of the fourth inning came to an end. After having their bats silenced over the second and third innings the Bulldogs bats started battling back in the bottom of the fourth inning. Holmes started the inning working a walk before moving to third on a double right centerfield by Jamison Bagwell. Brent Fowler followed Bagwell by working another walk to load the bases before Holmes came around to score when Jackson Reels was hit by a pitch to narrow the Yellow Jackets lead to 9-3. Bagwell cut the lead to 9-4 when he scored on a wild pitch to Richie Lewis before Jimmy Rosengrant, who was pinch running for Fowler, came around to score when Lewis hit a ball to first base as the Bulldogs cut the lead to 9-5 after four innings. In the top of the sixth inning Union extended their lead to 11-5 after Betenbaugh and Jeter, who both reached base on singles, came around to score on a single by Whitlock. The Bulldogs cut into the lead in the bottom of the sixth inning after Bagwell was hit by a pitch and later come around to score on a single to right centerfield by Jackson Kostiuk to put Union's lead at 11-6 heading into the seventh inning. After keeping Union off the board in the top of the seventh inning the Bulldogs bats erupted as they faced what could have been their last at-bats of the game. With one out Davis Starnes reached base on a walk and moved to second on a single to right field by Tristan Smith. Both runners moved to second and third on a wild pitch to Will Holmes before Holmes loaded the bases by reaching base on a walk. With the bases loaded Jamison Bagwell crushed a Yellow Jackets pitch to deep left field for a grand slam to cut the Union lead to 11-10 with only one out in the inning. Brent Fowler followed the grand slam with a walk and Jimmy Rosengrant, who was running for Fowler, moved to third base on a single to right field by Jackson Reel. Rosengrant tied the game at 11-11 on a sacrifice fly to right field by Vance Wagner to send the game into extra innings. Union was able to load the bases in the top of the eighth inning but clutch relief pitching by the Bulldogs Garrett Willford and Carter Sloand kept the Yellow Jackets off the board along with setting the Boiling Springs offense up for a chance to win the game. Hudson Wilson started the bottom of the eighth inning getting hit by a pitch and moved to second base on a sacrifice bunt by Starnes before stealing third base. With Wilson at third Tristan Smith hit a flyball to right field that allowed Wilson to score the winning run just ahead of a strong throw from the Union right fielder. "As a coach you want your kids to learn life lessons through sports as well and tonight our guys learned if you don't quit and keep fighting things may just go your way," said Lipscomb. "Our guys kept fighting and Bagwell was able to come up with the big hit. Hopefully we can carry this momentum into the second half of the season to help us win a region championship and a state championship which is our goal." Boiling Springs will return to action after spring break when they host Fort Mill on April 12th to start a three game region series. Comments are closed.
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