INMAN, S.C. – Two neighboring schools met on the baseball diamond Saturday night, capping off day one for both teams in the Bill Metcalf bracket of the Steve Sanders Tournament.
It was a tightly contested affair from start to finish, as the Boiling Springs Bulldogs went wire-to-wire and held off a late Chapman rally for a 4-2 victory. The Bulldogs drew first blood in the second inning as Jackson Cole and Landon Steven each tallied a base hit and later scored on a balk and a Chapman error, respectively. Justin Dawkins singled in the fourth inning and also scored on an error, which staked Boiling Springs to a 3-0 lead. Cole also helped his own cause on the mound, as the southpaw struck out nine of the 12 Panther batters he faced in four innings of work, which also featured an immaculate inning. “(Jackson) has that bulldog mentality,” said Boiling Springs head coach Jeff Lipscomb. “His body language (tonight) was ‘I’m going to get after you’. That’s why he is where is, because of his work ethic. He’s going to fight you tooth and nail until the end.” Trailing by three, the Panthers struck for two runs in their half of the fourth as Kole Brown, Johann Rodriguez, and Coleman Gray each reached on a walk, Bulldog error, and single to load the bases with one out. Cason Owens plated a run on a fielder’s choice. On the same play, a Bulldog error allowed a second Panther run to score, which made it a 3-2 game. “Coach Lipscomb does an unbelievable job,” Chapman head coach Steven Fusaro stated. “His teams are always so disciplined, and they just compete their tails off. We pride ourselves on the same thing. When you get two teams that love to compete, neither team is going to let the other one run away with it. I’m super proud of the way our guys competed and we’re going to be better because of this game tonight.” In the sixth inning, Stevens drew a leadoff walk and later scored from third on a Dawkins base knock, giving the Bulldogs a 4-2 lead entering the final frame. Owens and Devin Roe, the first two Chapman batters in the seventh, reached on a walk and hit-by-pitch. Jack Settle moved both runners over into scoring position with a well-placed sacrifice bunt along the first base side. However, the rally for the host Panthers came up a bit short, as the Bulldogs tallied a strikeout and a groundout to third to pick up the win. Right-hander Corben Childers threw three scoreless innings for the Bulldogs in relief of Cole. “Chapman’s a great baseball team,” Lipscomb remarked. “I give Coach Fusaro and his staff all the credit in the world. Those guys are going to go a long way this year. There’s no doubt about it. They’re a talented team and we were very fortunate to win tonight.” On Monday evening, Chapman will play host to St. Joseph’s, while Hillcrest will travel over to Boiling Springs. Both games are scheduled to start at 6 PM. Saturday scores from Bill Metcalf Bracket · Chapman 11, Hillcrest 4 · Boiling Springs 8, St. Joseph’s 3 · Hillcrest 12, St. Joseph’s 3 Comments are closed.
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