COLUMBIA – A strong pitching performance and timely hitting got Fort Mill Post 43 an opening win in the 2020 S.C. American Summer League baseball state tournament over Sumter Post 15.
Post 43 won 3-0 after Trevor Krupke pitched six commanding innings allowing just four hits while walking three and striking out four. Fort Mill also got the necessary hits it needed with clutch at-bats from Connor Rasmussen, Patrick Matthews and Nic Curtis. Rasmussen went 2-3, Matthews went 1-3 with an RBI and Curtis went 1-1 with an RBI and two walks.
“I made it a point to our guys going into this tournament on how important game one is to win based on our experience last year,” said Post 43 head coach Tom Skula. “Getting a victory really sets us up well going into day two.”
Fort Mill will now take on West Columbia Post 79 in the state semifinals Saturday at 12:35. If they were to win, they would advance to the finals on Sunday. If they were to lose, they would fall to the consolation bracket and need to win a game at 3 p.m. today to also advance to the state finals in the double elimination tournament. Sumter will take on Greer Post 115, who is looking to repeat as state champions. The loser of that game will be eliminated from the tournament. Post 43 is now 15-2 on the season.
Against Sumter, Fort Mill came out slow offensively with just one hit through the first four innings. Krupke came out strong and allowed just two hits through the first five innings. A couple times Krupke pitched his way out of jams during the game. In the third inning, he allowed the bases to be loaded on two walks and a hit with two outs, but got the third out of the inning on a fly out to right field. Then in the four inning Sumter left two men on base with the help of a Fort Mill error and another walk, yet Krupke figured his way out of things.
“Both starters really threw the ball well for each team,” Skula said. “Trevor hasn’t thrown in a game in over two weeks. To compete every pitch and put up zeros like that was really amazing to watch. It takes performances like todays to have a shot to win a state championship. We got exactly what we needed out of Trevor today.”
Post 43 cracked the game open in the fifth inning as Matthews drove in Curtis, who walked earlier in the inning, with an RBI single to put Fort Mill on the board.
In the top of the sixth, Sumter threatened again getting two base runners off back-to-back singles with just one out, but Krupke was able to pitch his way out of the jam once again.
The bottom of the inning proved to be very beneficial for Post 43 as they scored two runs on three hits. Rasmussen and Chase Dougherty each singled to start the inning, before Curtis drove home Rasmussen and A.J. Jaworowski drove home Dougherty on a sacrifice bunt.
The extra two runs were the cushion that Fort Mill needed as they brought in Dusty Sanderlin to pitch the seven inning and get the save. Sanderlin threw just 15 pitches to get the save without allowing a base runner and striking out one.
Mac Banks: mac@fortmillprepsports.com, @prepsports
