The Fort Mill Yellow Jackets advanced in the 5A Division II playoffs with a first-round win over the Catawba Ridge Copperheads.
Fort Mill won 12-7 after a strong first half, but the Copperheads made it interesting in the second half.
“It’s hard to play over spring break,” said Fort Mill head coach Alex Tindall. “The kids were out of their routine. We came out slow. But our guys got the job done.”
Fort Mill improved to 10-6 overall and will move on to go to Nation Ford on Saturday, April 26. The two teams spilt the season series during the regular season.
“We welcome the opportunity,” Tindall said. “We have to work hard the next couple days at practice”
Fort Mill swept the season series against the Copperheads, but that didn’t matter to Catawba Ridge as Hayden Christenberry scored first at 8:49 in the first quarter.
Fort Mill was patient on offense and took their time. Charlie McGuire was able to tie the match scoring at 4:35 remaining in the first quarter.
The teams entered the second quarter tied at one, but McGuire quickly changed that with a goal 43 seconds into the quarter.
Fort Mill’s Patrick Yarborough extended the lead with a goal two minutes later. The Jackets quickly found a rhythm in the second quarter as Cayden Kalpheke kept things rolling with another goal 34 seconds later.
McGuire got a hat trick for Fort Mill with 7:47 left in the first half and then scored a fourth goal about 90 seconds later. Cam Wilcox got in on the action for the Jackets with a goal 22 seconds later to put the Jackets up 7-1 on their seventh consecutive goal.
Catawba Ridge stopped the Jackets streak with a second goal by Christenberry with 4:31 left in the half.
After a short halftime break, Fort Mill scored 10 seconds into the third quarter with Wilcox’s second goal of the match.
The Jackets did struggle some in the third quarter with turnovers and lost ground balls.
Christenberry got a hat trick scoring his third goal of the match for the Copperheads at 4:25 in the quarter.
The scoring wasn’t much in the quarter, but Yarborough got his second goal of the match with 23 seconds left.
Fort Mill took a 9-3 lead into the fourth quarter. Yarborough collected a hat trick for Fort Mill with 10:20 left in the match.
Catawba Ridge’s Callan Hiser scored about 40 seconds later for the Copperheads. The Copperheads kept rallying with goals by Christenberry and Will Gambrill to make it 10-6.
Fort Mill stepped up as Wilcox got the momentum back in their corner with his third goal of the match.
Christenberry added a fifth goal with about five minutes remaining to again put the Copperheads within four, but that was all the ground they could make up.
McGuire put the icing on top for the Jackets with his fifth goal of the match with three seconds remaining.
The Copperheads finished its season at 5-10 overall.
“We are very young,” said Catawba Ridge head coach Mike Gambrill. “We will continue to grow. The next couple of years look very bright for us.”
April 23 Roundup
The Fort Mill baseball team beat Austintown-Finch 12-0 in day three of their games at Myrtle Beach. Michael Rogers went 1-2 with three RBIs and Josh Patterson went 2-3 with four RBIs in the game. Braden Richardson threw four innings allowing two hits without giving up a walk and striking out eight for the win. Fort Mill improved to 17-5 with the win and will next play on Monday, April 28 in game one of their series against Nation Ford.
The Nation Ford baseball team lost to Marvin Ridge 15-2 in day three of the Rescue Lock and Key Invitational at the school. The loss drops the Falcons to 11-12 overall on the season.
Mac Banks: mac@fortmillprepsports.com, @fortprep
