The Fort Mill baseball team took game two of their series against the Catawba Ridge Copperheads to even the series.
Fort Mill got a 5-0 win against the Copperheads as the Jackets’ pitching allowed just one hit, with starter Alex Carreiro nearly going the distance.
“I thought last night (game one) we had a little bit of jitters,” said Fort Mill head coach Travis Collier. “The anticipation hurt our guys. When you get too excited you wear yourself out too early. Tonight, I felt like we played like ourself. Our guys were ready to play at home. It is good to be back home. Our guys are a little more comfortable at home.”
Catawba Ridge got a base runner on in the first inning, but couldn’t get him across. In the bottom half of the inning, Fort Mill struck first with a single driving in Jacob Pettit, who singled to start things off for the Jackets, as they went up 1-0.
Nothing happened in the second for either team as Copperheads starter Zack McMahon settled down to keep Fort Mill off the bases.
In the bottom of the third, Pettit singled to right center to reach base again. Josh Patterson followed Pettit with a single to right, before a wild pitch put runners in scoring position.
Carter Blankinship then doubled to score both Pettit and Patterson to put Fort Mill up 3-0. Catawba Ridge would get out of the inning two batters later without allowing another run.
The Copperheads’ Britton Nash reached on an error to start the top of the fourth inning and Sam Schwamb was hit by a pitch to put two runners on in the top of the fourth, but the Jackets got out of it without allowing a run.
In the bottom of the fourth with two outs, Pettit came up big again with an RBI single scoring Andrew Craddock, who singled earlier in the inning to reach base. A Copperheads’ error allowed John Coppola to score before McMahon was replaced on the mound with the Jackets leading 5-0. McMahon’s final line was three and two third innings, allowing five runs on eight hits, while walking two and striking out four.
Catawba Ridge got one base runner on in the top of the fifth due to a walk, but continued to struggle at the plate in consistently getting on base.
“Carreiro is a good arm,” said Catawba Ridge head coach Stas Swerdzewski. “He was good for them last year and is picking up where he left off. Our approach was a little off. He feels up the strike zone and at times, it seemed like we weren’t ready to hit. Season is still young. We are still trying to make adjustments and fix things. Hopefully we come out tomorrow and have a much better offensive approach.”
Fort Mill would threaten again in the bottom of the sixth, but Catawba Ridge defense with Zac Young on the mound in relief was able to keep them at bay.
In the top of the seventh, Carreiro would walk the leadoff hitter, leading to the end of his night. Carreiro would go six innings allowing no runs on no hits, while walking three and striking out seven.
Bryce Meil would then single for Catawba Ridge after Quinn Clouden was hit by a pitch by Fort Mill reliever Braden Richardson. Runners for the Copperheads would get to second and third in the seventh, but Fort Mill kept them from scoring to get out of the game and even the series.
The win puts Fort Mill at 4-1 on the season, while Catawba Ridge dropped to 3-2-1 overall. Both are 1-1 in Region 3-5A. Game three is back at Fort Mill High at 7 p.m. on Friday, March 14.
Mac Banks: mac@fortmillprepsports.com, @fortprep
