WINNSBORO – Fairfield Central baseball bowed out of the 3A State Playoffs on Monday with a loss to Blue Ridge High School, but they didn’t go down without a fight.
Down 2-0 with one out in the bottom of the first, Blake Gambrell singled on a line drive to left, and Jonathan Warren homered to tie the game at two.
With runners on second and third, Blue Ridge went up by two on a Griffin fielding error. The Tigers followed up with a homer to put the game at 6-2 in Blue Ridge’s favor before a fly ball sent the Griffins to the plate.
Back-to-back singles by Shykein Holmes and Adam Gonzales put runners on first and second. Curtis Sampson reached first on a Blue Ridge error to load the bases with no outs. Fairfield plated two runs before getting an out, the first as Cailen Gadsden was hit by a pitch, then took second as Chazi Jones reached base on another Tiger error. With one out and runners on the corners, Jalen Jackson knocked in the Griffins’ fifth run on a sacrifice fly to right.
Still trailing 5-6 in the bottom of the sixth with elimination on the line, Holmes got a leadoff single, and Gonzalez drew a walk to put runners on first and second with no outs. A Griffin strikeout and a line-drive double-play ended Fairfield’s best chance to plate another run.
Jonathan Warren took the loss on the mound for the Griffins. He allowed seven hits and six runs in seven innings. He struck out four and walked two.
The Griffins dropped to Monday’s elimination game after another tight loss in the first round of the playoffs to West-Oak High School on Saturday.
Fairfield scored quickly to open the game. Leadoff batter Chazi Jones reached first on a fielding error, then Blake Gambrell singled to put Jones on third. The next two Griffin batters struck out, but Jones scored on a passed ball before another strikeout ended the inning.
Fairfield held its 1-0 lead until the bottom of the third when the Warriors tied the game at one. With runners on first and third, a West-Oak single plated one run, but a tag at the plate saved the winning run.
West-Oak took a 2-1 lead in the bottom of the fifth with an RBI single. Though the Griffins managed to get runners on base, they weren’t able to produce another run before the game ended.
Gambrell picked up the loss. In six innings of work, he allowed seven hits and two runs. He struck out five and walked two.
Jones had the Griffins’ lone hit of the night.
BLUE RIDGE – 2-4-0-0-0-0-0 – 6, 7, 2
FAIRFIELD – 2-3-0-0-0-0-0 – 5, 6, 2
LP: Warren
HITTERS: Holmes 2-3, Gonzalez 1-2, Warren 1-3 (HR), Sampson 1-3, Gambrell 1-4
FAIRFIELD – 1-0-0-0-0-0-0 – 1, 3, 3
WEST-OAK – 0-0-0-1-1-0-X – 2, 7, 3
LP: Gambrell
HITTERS: Jones 1-3
