After one bad inning, the Catawba Ridge Copperheads baseball team rallied to beat the North Augusta Yellow Jackets and advance in the 4A playoffs.
Catawba Ridge beat the Yellow Jackets 8-4 after getting down early. They will now face Laurens on the road May 3.
“It is always good to fight through adversity like that,” said Catawba Ridge head coach Stas Swerdzewski. “They got a little momentum, but we answered back. There is a lot of baseball left to play. We don’t care who we play. We will play anyone, anywhere, anytime.”
The game went rather quickly though the first two innings. Then in the third inning, the Yellow Jackets started stinging.
North Augusta put up three runs on four hits, including a home run, to take a 3-0 after the top half of the inning.
The deficit didn’t last long as the Copperheads started chipping away in the bottom of the inning. Owen Noonan and Peyton Dhein opened with back-to-back singles. Sam Schwamb would drive in Noonan on a single of his own and a Ben Wilson sacrifice fly would close the gap even more.
Brennan Helms would tie the game with a single and Britton Nash would make it 4-3 in the Copperheads’ favor with yet another single.
Catawba Ridge started the bottom of the fourth inning off with walks to Ethan Solnick and Noonan. Dhein would single to load the bases and Noonan would score on a passed ball to extend the Copperheads’ lead.
In the fifth inning, Catawba Ridge again was able to score with the help of a double from Nash scoring Wilson.
Dhein led the sixth inning off with a double and scored on a single from Mullen to make it 8-3. Dhein led at the plate going 4-4, while both Nash and Helms each had two hits and an RBI.
Mullen, who got the start, settled down after the one bad inning. He would go five innings and allow just the three runs on four hits without allowing a walk. He would strike out 10. Zach McMahon worked two innings allowing one run on three hits, while walking one and striking out five to close things out.
Catawba Ridge improved to 24-3 overall with the win.
May 1 Roundup
The Nation Ford softball team won in their District III playoff opener against Boiling Springs by a score of 9-2. Paizlei Ross led going 2-4 with three RBIs, while Brooke Ressler, Abigail Loser and Jackie Knol each had two RBIs as well in the win. Nation Ford improved to 14-5 overall and will next play TL Hanna at home May 3.
The Fort Mill softball team lost in their District III playoff opener at TL Hanna 9-2 and will play Boiling Springs in an elimination game May 3. The Jackets got just two hits in the loss and dropped to 5-13 on the season.
The Nation Ford boys’ soccer team fell 1-0 to Byrnes in the second round of the 5A playoffs on the road. They finished their season 17-7-1 overall.
The Fort Mill boys’ soccer team won 4-3 in three overtimes periods over the Hillcrest Rams on the road to improve to 13-8-1 overall. They will now travel to take on the Byrnes Rebels on May 3 in the third round of the 5A state playoffs.
Mac Banks: mac@fortmillprepsports.com, @fortprep
