BLYTHEWOOD – The Blythewood baseball team got right down to business in the opening game of the District 4 upper state tournament Tuesday night.
The Bengals (26-1) opened the 6-run second inning with six straight singles, and Kevin Steelman added a 2-run home run in the fourth inning to take out No.4 seed Nation Ford 10-0 in five innings.
Davis Wright one-hit the Falcons, striking out six and walking one in 4 1/3 innings. Jacob Hardy pitched the final 2/3 innings to close out the win.
Alex Nevils, Alex Myers, and Stephen Lang-Spittler each hit doubles.
Blythewood plays host to Hillcrest Thursday. The Rams took out Riverside 2-1 Tuesday.
The Bengals beat Hillcrest, the defending 5A state champion, 5-2 in the South Carolina Diamond Invitational tournament April 13.
Blythewood finished off the regular season with a 10-5 victory over A.C. Flora April 27.
The Bengals jumped to a 6-1 lead with three runs apiece in the first and second innings. The Falcons picked up two runs in the third, and one in the fifth to pull within 7-4, but the Bengals’ Landon Penfield and Steelman hit back-to-back home runs in the bottom of the sixth.
Zac Cowan, the fourth pitcher on the mound for the Bengals on the night, worked the seventh and gave up a run, but no further damage.
Tuesday
Nation Ford – 0-0-0-0-0 — 0, 1, 1
Blythewood – 2-6-0-2-X — 10, 12, 0
WP: Davis Wright. LP: Paul Solari.
Hitters: N – Ashworth 2B. B – Kevin Steelman 2-3, HR, 2 RBI. Alex Nevils 2-2, 2B. Alex Myers 2-3. Stephen Lang-Spittler 2B. Zac Cowan 2 RBI.
Wednesday
A.C. Flora – 1-0-2-0-1-0-1 — 5, 7, 1
Blythewood – 3-3-0-1-0-3-X — 10, 9 ,1
WP: Davis Wright. LP: Stephen West
Hitters: B – Landon Penfield 2-3, HR, 4 RBI. Kevin Steelman 2-4, 2B, HR, 2 RBI. Alex Myers 2-4, 2B. Alex Nevils 2B.
