BLYTHEWOOD – The Blythewood baseball team enjoyed a good run as the host team of the South Carolina Diamond Invitational—until the last two innings.
The Bengals (14-5, 7-2), who won the SCDI trophy for the last three years, beat Northwestern, South Florence and Chapin to get into the championship game against Lexington. The Wildcats (18-6), who last won the SCDI in 2012, got a 3-run home run from Tradd Burton in the fifth inning Saturday that lifted them to a 5-2 victory over the Bengals.
“I thought they played hard and played well. We did get some big hits when we needed them,” Blythewood head coach Travis Poole said about the spring break tournament. “All in all we played good, but you’ve got to tip your hat to Lexington, that’s a very good baseball team.”
Wildcats starting pitcher Brandon Cromer picked up the win by giving up three hits and striking out two over five full innings. He got into a little trouble in the third inning when he walked three Blythewood batters and gave up the Bengals’ only run.
After Cromer walked Alex Myers, Sammy Franklin’s 2-out bunt single moved Alex Myers to third base. Franklin reached second on an error. Myers stole home as Landon Penfield batted to give Blythewood a 1-0 lead.
With Franklin at third, Cromer walked Macon Leppert to put runners at first and third for Harrison Collins. Cromer recovered to get Collins to foul out and end the inning.
Blythewood clung to its 1-0 lead until the top of the sixth.
With Chase Rollings on the mound since the start of the
fourth inning, Blythewood lost its lead. With two out and Logan Bright at first
base with a walk, Rollings also walked Ryder Kellis.
Brayden Jeffcoat’s single into leftfield drove in Bright for the tying run and
put runners on first and third for Burton. Rollings fell behind in the count,
and Burton drilled a 3-1 pitch over the leftfield fence to give Lexington a 4-1
lead.
Christian Spivey ended the inning on a leftfield flyout.
Blythewood got a run back in the bottom of the sixth, when Amare Counts connected for a 2-out solo home run over the right centerfield fence. That’s all the runs the Bengals could get, as C.J. Johnson ended the inning on a ground out.
Lexington went up 5-2 on Tournament MVP Jackson Cionek’s leadoff solo shot to leftfield in the top of the seventh. With Counts on the mound to start the inning, Lincoln Hill popped out, but Counts walked Logan Blight and Cromer to put runners at first and second.
Just as the situation looked bleak for Blythewood, Will Burgess grounded out to Landon Penfield at third, who stepped on the bag to get the force out. Penfield completed the inning-ending double play throwing to Collins at first base to get Burgess out.
Unfortunately for the Bengals, relief pitcher Wally Bledsoe set down Blythewood in order in the bottom of the seventh to seal the win.
Even though the Bengals missed out on a fourth straight SCDI win, Coach Poole and the team are poised for a final run. They showed as much Monday with a 6-1 win over Region 3-5A rival Rock Hill.
“I think we’ve done a great job so far and we’ll continue to get better as time goes,” Poole said. “We’ve got to do a little better with runners in scoring position and driving in runs, but overall if we play well, I think we have a chance to make the playoffs and make a little noise.”
Counts, who was 6-for-11 for the tournament with two home runs, two doubles, and 5 RBI, made the All-Tournament team. Porter Rummel made the SCDI All-Academic team.
Blythewood, which played at Rock Hill Wednesday, plays host to the Bearcats Friday. The Bengals take on Spring Valley for three games next week.
SCDI
Wednesday
Blythewood – 0-2-5-1-0-0-2 – 10, 11, 1
Northwestern – 0-0-0-0-0-0-1 – 1, 6, 3
WP: Lucas Defee.
Hitters: B – J Bottar 3-4, HR, 3 RBI. A Counts 3-3, 2B, HR, 2 RBI. M Leppert 2-4, 2B. S Franklin 2-5. N – A Sands 3-3, 2B. No.9 2-3, 2B.
Thursday
South Florence – 1-0-0-0-0 – 1, 4, 5
Blythewood – 6-5-0-0-X – 11, 5, 1
WP: Sammy Franklin.
Hitters: S – C Thompson 2B. B – C Johnson HR, 3 RBI. A Counts 2 RBI.
Friday
Chapin – 0-0-0-1-0-0-0 – 1, 5, 0
Blythewood – 1-1-0-0-0-1-X – 3, 4, 1
WP: Johnny Collins.
Hitters: C – J Peterson 2-3, 2B. J Coletti 2-3. B – A Counts 2B. C Johnson 2B.
Saturday
Lexington – 0-0-0-0-0-4-1 – 5, 4, 1
Blythewood – 0-0-1-0-0-1-0 – 2, 4, 0
WP: Brandon Cromer.
Hitters: L – J Cionek 2-3, HR. T Burton HR, 3 RBI. B – A Counts HR.
Regular Season
Monday
Rock Hill – 0-0-1-0-0-0-0 – 1, 4, 0
Blythewood – 1-0-5-0-0-0-X – 6, 3, 1
WP: Lucas Defee.
Hitters: R – N Cooper 2B. B – M Leppert 3B, 2 RBI. L Penfield 2 RBI. A Counts 2B.
South Carolina Diamond Invitational Results
Wednesday
Game 1: Cardinal Newman 2, Dreher 1
Game 2: Blythewood 10, Northwestern 1
Game 3: Chapin 11, South Florence 1
Game 4: Lexington 4, T.L. Hanna 2
Thursday
Game 5: Chapin 12, Northwestern 2
Game 6: Cardinal Newman 5, T.L. Hanna 3
Game 7: Lexington 17, Dreher 0
Game 8: Blythewood 11, South Florence 1
Friday
Game 9: T.L. Hanna 11, Dreher 4
Game 10: South Florence 3, Northwestern 2
Game 11: Blythewood 3, Chapin 1
Game 12: Lexington 10, Cardinal Newman 1
Saturday
Game 13: Dreher 9, Northwestern 2
Game 14: T.L. Hanna 3, South Florence 1
Game 15: Chapin 3, Cardinal Newman 1
Game 16: Lexington 5, Blythewood 2