Fort Mill head baseball coach Travis Collier talked about making little adjustments after the Jackets 1-0 loss Wednesday night to Catawba Ridge.
The Jackets made those adjustments and then some bouncing back to split the season series against the Copperheads winning Thursday’s game 11-5.
“Credit the guys for their hard work they put in the last 24 hours,” Collier said. “They took last night to heart and came in ready to go. They bought into the adjustments we needed to make and it paid off. It is comfortable being at home. I love playing here in front of a great crowd. It was a good atmosphere. I liked what we did tonight.”
Fort Mill had two big innings in the fourth scoring four runs and then in the fifth inning scoring six runs. Catawba Ridge did outhit Fort Mill 8 to 7, but defensively managed to hold the Copperheads at bay.
Neither team scratched the scoreboard in the first three innings, but in the top of the fourth, Catawba Ridge plated their first run of the game off a Ben Wilson single to left field scoring Jake McCoy, who got the start on the mound for Catawba Ridge.
Fort Mill answered in the bottom of the inning with four runs and would never trail again. David Krise walked to lead the inning off for the Jackets and scored two batters later on a double by Brent Laughter to tie the game. Andrew Craddock would then single in Eli Craddock to give Fort Mill the lead. Nathan Carmello would then drive in a run on a sacrifice, before Andrew Craddock would score on a passed ball.
Catawba Ridge got a run back in the top of the fifth off a groundout by Owen Noonan scoring Britton Nash, but Fort Mill again would use the bottom of the inning to pull away and put the game out of reach.
In the bottom of the fifth, JB Walters would score on a wild pitch and Jaeger Pankowski would drive in Eli Craddock, who had walked earlier in the inning to reach base. Catawba Ridge’s pitching struggled in the inning walking five Fort Mill batters and hitting one, not to mention multiple passed balls. After all was said and done, Fort Mill was leading 10-2.
“I think tonight, Fort Mill capitalized on a lot of our mistakes,” said Catawba Ridge head coach Stas Swerdzewski. “We walked eight guys in six innings. That is not the brand of baseball we like to play. We believe in filling up the zone and limiting free bases as much as possible. You have to tip your cap to Fort Mill and they took advantage of the opportunities we gave them. Offensively, we didn’t get it done. Offensively, we have to refocus and get back to work. We are a better offensive team than we showed.”
Catawba Ridge did get a big blow as Wilson hit a three-run home run in the top of the sixth to cut the Fort Mill score in half, but the Copperheads couldn’t rally any further. Wilson led the way at the plate for Catawba Ridge going 2-3 with four RBI.
The Jackets would add another run in the bottom of the sixth off a Catawba Ridge error. The two teams combined for five errors in the game.
Laughter led Fort Mill going 2-4 with an RBI and Pankowski went 1-4 with two RBI.
Fort Mill is now 4-2 overall on the season, while Catawba Ridge falls to 3-3 on the season. The Jackets next play at Blythewood Monday, March 13 to open Region 3-5A play, while Catawba Ridge opens Region 3-4A play at South Pointe.
March 9 Roundup
Nation Ford
The Falcons baseball team won 12-2 over Parkwood. Nation Ford’s tennis team got a 6-0 win over Blythewood. The boys lacrosse team won 19-1 over Spring Valley on the road, while the girls lacrosse team won 18-3 at home against Spring Valley. The Nation Ford softball team won 6-4 at Buford to get their first win of the season.
Fort Mill
The Fort Mill girls’ lacrosse team won 13-7 over Clover and the softball team won 6-3 over York. The boys lacrosse team fell 9-5 to Clover.
Catawba Ridge
The Catawba Ridge softball team won 16-0 over South Pointe as pitcher Chloe Burger pitched a perfect game. The girls’ soccer team won 12-0 over South Pointe to open region play.
Mac Banks: mac@fortmillprepsports.com, @fortprep
