After not playing in two weeks, there was some rust that the Catawba Ridge Copperheads had to shake off in their playoff opener.
Staring the playoffs with a bye in the first round, Catawba Ridge easily beat the South Aiken Thoroughbreds 5-0 in their second-round match Wednesday. The Copperheads struggled getting things moving early in their match.
“We knew what we were going to do, we just didn’t finish,” said Catawba Ridge head coach Philip McCarter. “The first 10 minutes of the second half was better than the 40 minutes of the first half.”
The Copperheads will now face Riverside in the third round Friday, May 5 at home. Riverside beat Greenville 4-1 Wednesday night in their second-round contest. Catawba Ridge is now 18-2-1 overall on the season.
It took a while for Catawba Ridge to start working fluidly when the match started, but once they did, they poured the offense on.
Joshua White led the Copperheads with three goals for the hat trick. White punched in a cross in the 17th minute of the first half to get the scoring started.
Caden Tull scored three minutes later to give Catawba Ridge a 2-0 lead which would hold until the half.
The second half was more productive for the Copperheads as they scored three goals.
White got the scoring started a little over two minutes into the second half scoring off a deflection. He completed the hat trick just three minutes later.
In the 54th minute of the match, Angelo D’Errico scored to make it 5-0 as the Copperheads controlled possession for much of the second half.
South Aiken’s best chance to score was with 14 minutes left in the match on a penalty kick that went too high and hit the top crossbar.
May 3 Roundup
Fort Mill
The Fort Mill softball team beat Hillcrest to open the 5A playoffs winning 5-4 in nine innings. Brooke Roserio went 3-4 with an RBI and Lexi Verastegui went 2-4 as well for Fort Mill. Haley Rogers earned the win pitching allowing eight hits, but only two runs over eight innings of work. She struck out one and walked three in the game. Fort Mill improves to 13-7 overall on the season and will next take on Byrnes on the road on Friday, May 5.
The Fort Mill boys’ soccer team lost at home in the second round of the 5A state playoffs falling to Hillcrest 4-0. Fort Mill’s season ends with a 13-8-1 record.
Catawba Ridge
The Catawba Ridge baseball team beat South Aiken 8-0 to advance to the next round in the District playoffs. Owen Noonan led the Copperheads at the plate going 4-4 with five RBIs including a two-run home run. Jake McCoy pitched six and a third innings allowing four hits and striking out 11 batters. Catawba Ridge takes on Greenville at home Friday, May 5. Catawba Ridge is now 22-5 overall on the season.
Nation Ford
The Nation Ford boys’ soccer team beat JL Mann on penalty kicks (4-3) after ending regulation and extra time tied at 1-1. The win improves them to 16-6 on the season as they now travel to Clover on Friday, May 5 for their third-round match.
The Nation Ford softball team lost to Dorman on the road to open the 5A playoffs falling 3-0. The Falcons got just one hit coming off the bat of Jackie Knol. Dorman scored all three of their runs in the bottom of the first inning. Nation Ford will head to TL Hanna on Friday, May 5 for their next game. The Falcons fall to 8-10 overall.
Mac Banks: mac@fortmillprepsports.com, @fortprep
