BLYTHEWOOD – The Blythewood baseball team (9-3, 5-1 Region 3-5A) extended their winning streak to five games with two wins over Nation Ford last week, Monday’s 5-1 victory at Clover, and Tuesday’s 4-2 win over the Blue Eagles at Bengals field.
On Monday, with the Bengals up 2-0 in the top of the sixth inning, Macon Leppert hit a bases-clearing, 2-out double to break the game open. Clover got a run in the bottom of the sixth, but Ryan Watts, who came on the mound to start the sixth inning, retired the Blue Eagles in order in the seventh to seal the victory.
Lucus Defee, who pitched the first five innings, got the win for the Bengals.
Besides Leppert’s double, Alex Myers went 2-for-3.
The next day, with the score tied 2-2 in the bottom of the fourth inning, Sammy Franklin hit a one-out double that scored Amare Counts. Later in the inning, with Alex Myers at third, Franklin at second, and Landon Penfield at first, Clover walked Macon Leppert and drove in Myers.
With the Bengals up 4-2 going into the fifth, pitchers Johnny Collins and Jackson Bottar held the Blue Eagles scoreless. Collins got the win and Bottar, who pitched two full innings, earned the save.
Blythewood traveled to Nation Ford Wednesday, March 20 and rallied for four runs in the top of the seventh inning to take a 7-5 lead. The Falcons came up with two runs in the bottom of the seventh to tie the game at seven and send the game to extra innings. In the eighth, the Bengals scored eight runs on eight hits, including a triple from Myers and doubles from Jackson Bottar, Sammy Franklin, and Harrison Collins, and closed out a 15-7 win.
The next day Blythewood hosted the Falcons and won 13-3 in five innings.
Blythewood travels to Clover Friday.
The Bengals open the 2024 SC Diamond Invitational Wednesday against Northwestern.
This year’s SCDI features Blythewood, Chapin, Northwestern and South Florence in Bracket A, and Cardinal Newman, Dreher, Lexington, and T.L. Hanna in Bracket B.
The tournament features 16 games that play out Wednesday through Saturday, April 6.
Wednesday
Blythewood – 0-2-0-0-1-0-4-8 – 15, 10, 4
Nation Ford – 3-0-1-0-0-1-2-0 – 7, 9, 3
WP: Jackson Bottar
Hitters: B – Sammy Franklin 2-4, 2B. Alex Myers 2-5, 3B, 2 RBI. Jackson Bottar 2-5, 2B. Harrison Collins 2B. N – Simon Fernandez 2-3, 2RBI. Jake Barrier 2-4, 2B. Jackson Childs 2RBI.
Thursday
Nation Ford – 0-3-0-0-0-X-X – 3, 3, 1
Blythewood – 2-1-1-9-X-X-X – 13, 9, 1
WP: Ryan Watts
Hitters: N – Simon Fernandez HR, 3 RBI. B – Sammy Franklin 2-3. Harrison Collins 2-3, 2B. Alex Myers 2-4. Macon Leppert 2 RBI.
Monday
Blythewood – 1-1-0-0-0-3-0 – 5, 6, 0
Clover – 0-0-0-0-0-1- 0 – 1, 5, 1
WP: Lucus Defee
Hitters: B – Alex Myers 2-3. Macon Leppert 2B, 3 RBI. C – Ryan Stewart 2-3. Brandon Smith 2B.
Tuesday
Clover – 0-0-1-1-0-0-0 – 2, 8, 1
Blythewood – 1-0-1-2-0-0-X – 4, 7, 0
WP: Johnny Collins
Hitters: B – Alex Myers 2-4. Sammy Franklin 2B, RBI. C – Austin Mitchell 2-2. Ryan Stewart 2-2. Logan Satter 2B.
