Fort Mill’s Mathieu Curtis thew four innings of no-hit ball for the Jackets against Catawba Ridge Friday night.

Neither Catawba Ridge nor Fort Mill played their best baseball Friday, but the Jackets were able to capitalize on the most mistakes between the two teams getting an ugly rain-soaked win.

Fort Mill beat Catawba Ridge 12-4 in a game that saw the teams combine for eight errors, 28 strikeouts and 14 walks.  The win puts the Jackets at 5-0 on the season, while the loss drops Catawba Ridge to 4-2.

“We battled today against a good Catawba Ridge team,” said Fort Mill head coach Travis Collier. “This is a special group. We have to clean some things up.”

Collier said his team’s win Friday night was ugly after coming off winning the Coastal Invitational and going 4-0 to open the season. Against Catawba Ridge, Fort Mill struck out 15 times, but they were able to do the most damage by taking advantage of six Copperhead errors in the field.

Twice Fort Mill batted around and scored six runs in the top of the second off a hit and two Copperhead errors. Both teams scored in the third inning and then Fort Mill again added five runs on three hits and an error in the fifth inning to make it 12-1.

Just as Fort Mill thought they would win by the 10-run mercy rule, Catawba Ridge rallied in the bottom of the fifth and scored three runs to make it 12-4 forcing them to play two more innings.

Catawba Ridge head coach Stas Swerdzewski said his team didn’t play like they had been and struggled with the adversity that faced them.

“We didn’t play well in any way,” he said. “They capitalized on our mistakes early. The way we handle adversity will define how far we go. We have to have someone step up and stop the bleeding when it starts.”

Swerdzewski gave credit to Fort Mill starter Mathieu Curtis, who got the win for the Jackets, going four innings and not allowing a hit, while allowing one run on four walks and 10 strikeouts.

Leading the way at the plate for Fort Mill was Connor Rasmussen who went 1-2 with three RBI and Scott Young who went 1-4 with two RBI and a double. For Catawba Ridge, the Copperheads didn’t get a hit until the fifth inning. Tyler Levy led them going 1-2 with two RBI.

Catawba Ridge opens Region 3-4A play next week hosting South Pointe Monday, March 14, while Fort Mill travels to Lewisville Tuesday, March 15 for the first of two games against the Lions next week.

In other games…

Both the Catawba Ridge boys’ and girls’ soccer teams opened Region 3-4A schedule. The Copperheads boys’ team won 6-0 to improve to 8-2 overall and 1-0 in region play, while the girls’ team won 8-1 to improve to 5-2 overall and 1-0 in region play.

Mac Banks: mac@fortmillprepsports.com, @fortprep

Fort Mill’s Dylan Schaefer slides into second after stealing the base as Catawba Ridge shortstop Owen Noonan fields a throw from the Cooperheads’ catcher Wyatt Wilson.