Senior Ladeavux Ashford jolts forward from the mound as he releases his pitch | Joe Seibles
WINNSBORO – The Keenan Raiders rolled into Fairfield last week looking for a season defining win, but instead all the Raiders found were the powerful Griffins’ bats. Keenan scored four runs in the first two innings, but could not keep up with the Griffins’ frantic pace, and Fairfield won easily, 19-4.
Sophomore pitcher Jimmy Reid got his first career starting nod for the Griffins and, in the process, picked up his first victory, allowed no earned runs and recorded his first strikeout. Reid also scored a run in the bottom of the first inning and received a standing ovation after his inning of work.
“I always tell myself as a high school baseball coach, I want this to be the best time in their life,” Griffins’ head coach Scotty Dean said. “I want them to remember playing baseball for me, and the memories that boy made tonight… I think stuff mean a lot to them. It means a lot to me.”
Keenan’s first two runs came in the top of the first inning, courtesy of a wild pitch, but the Griffins wasted no time in snatching the lead back. Montavious Thompson knocked in two RBIs in the bottom of the first, and Harvey Smith also drove in a run to highlight four-hit, seven-run inning. The Raiders walked five Fairfield batters in the first inning alone, 11 total in the game.
Another wild pitch and an RBI-double led to Keenan notching two runs in the top of the second inning, but again the Griffins’ counteracted the momentum with a stellar bottom half of the frame.
Taylor Truesdale swatted an RBI-sac fly, but the rest of the Griffins’ five second-inning runs came on sloppy pitches from the Raiders. Then, in the bottom of the third, one last Fairfield explosion put the nail in the three-inning affair.
Truesdale, Chris Simmons, Dylan Kurtz and Thompson all RBI’d for the Griffins in the inning, and the 15-run lead was enough to enact the mercy rule.
“I think us, as a baseball staff, like the progress we’re seeing out of this team,” Dean said. “I think we’re hitting the ball better now. We look right here; we’re currently second in the division. I don’t know what’s going to happen with this bunch, but I do know we have a lot of good, young baseball players. They’re only going to get better.”
The Griffins close the regular season Friday against Batesburg-Leesville.
FCHS:7-5-7-19
KHS:2-2-0-4
Pitching: FCHS – Jimmy Reid, (W), 1IP, 1H, 2R, 0ER, 1K, 2BB, 1HB. Ladeavux Ashford, .1IP, 2H, 2R, 1ER, 2BB. Taylor Truesdale, 1.2IP, 1H, 0R, 0ER, 3K, 1HB KHS – M.Adams (L), 1IP, 6H, 9R, 6ER, 6BB. M.Adkins, 2IP, 10R, 5ER, 4H, 5BB, 2HB
Hitting: 1B -Chazzi Jones, Montavious Thompson (2), Harvey Smith, Jeffrey Truesdale, Dylan Kurtz, Malcolm Armstrong (2)(FCHS). M. Adkins, J.Desant (KHS).2B -Harvey Smith, Taylor Truesdale (FCHS). M.Adams (KHS).