BLYTHEWOOD – Big hits continue to elude the Blythewood baseball team.
Against Dorman in the first game of the District 3 tournament, the Bengals bats failed to connect at the right moments, while the Cavaliers scored two runs in the fifth and four more runs in the seventh to defeat Blythewood 7-1.
“It’s sad, it’s kind of been our M.O. recently, we just can’t get that hit when we need it,” Bengals head coach Travis Poole said. “We didn’t execute, take nothing away from Dorman, Dorman’s a good baseball team, we knew that coming in. They got hits when they needed them and we didn’t, and that’s part of the game.”
Dorman 14-12, moves on in the winner’s bracket to play Hillcrest (13-14) Thursday. The Rams edged Nation Ford 6-4 Tuesday night.
Blythewood (19-8) will play host to their Region 3-5A rivals (11-14) in an elimination game Thursday.
The Bengals did take a 1-0 lead in the second inning. Harrison Collins led off with a single to leftfield and Jackson Bottar swatted a double in the same location to drive Collins in.
Just as quickly as that run came, Dorman starting pitcher Jackson Wyatt ended the inning. Amare Counts hit into a fielder’s choice, C.J. Johnson struck out and Ryan Watts ended the inning on a pop fly.
Wyatt pitched three full scoreless innings before Connor Wells relieved him to start the sixth inning.
Dorman’s batters got to Blythewood starter Johnny Collins in the fourth and fifth innings. The Cavaliers scored the tying run in the fourth when Mitch Wilson led off the inning with a single, stole second as Aaron Sturgill batted, and scored on Campbell Whitener’s 1-out single.
In the fifth inning Dorman got two more runs when Clay Crossley scored on Wilson’s single and Tyler Camara scored on Whitener’s base hit.
Bottar came on the mound in relief of Johnny Collins to work a scoreless sixth. Bottar started the seventh, but Dorman bombed him with Camara’s and Wilson’s back-to-back home runs that opened the Cavaliers’ 4-run inning.
“When you let a good team like Dorman stay in the game, you’re in trouble,” Poole said. “They’re a good baseball club.”
Blythewood got two baserunners on to start the fifth, sixth, and seventh innings, but none crossed the plate.
Poole said he hopes Blythewood can reverse its modus operandi for today’s elimination game against Nation Ford.
“The two biggest things I look for is on-base percentage, one, and RBIs, two. Those are the two big ones,” Poole said. “To score, you’ve got to get to first. You’ve just got to be in that position. I think the kids want to be there, they’ve just not produced, and that’s the difference in the game right there.”
Blythewood closed out region play with a 5-3 victory over first-place Fort Mill. The Yellow Jackets had clinched first place, and Blythewood second place, before the game.
C.J. Johnson, Jackson Bottar, Amare Counts, and Harrison Collins each had two hits. Johnson drove in four runs.
The Bengals’ final game of the regular season went down as a 6-5 loss to Mid Carolina Thursday. Bottar went 2-for-3 with a double and three RBI, and Landon Penfield had two hits.
April 24
BLYTHEWOOD -0-0-0-2-0-2-1 – 5, 9, 0
FORT MILL – 0-0-1-0-0-2-0 – 3, 5, 0
WP: Lucas Defee.
Hitters: B – C.J. Johnson 2-4, 4 RBI. Jackson Bottar 2-3. Amare Counts 2-3. Harrison Collins 2-4. F – Carter Blankenship 2B. Josh Patterson 2B.
Thursday
BLYTHEWOOD – 0-0-0-0-5-0-0 – 5, 7, 3
MID-CAROLINA – 1-0-5-0-0-0-0 – 6, 7, 1
WP: Jabari Flemon.
Hitters: B – Jackson Bottar 2-3, 2B, 3 RBI. Landon Penfield 2-2. M – Tony Dicorte 2-3, HR. Brady Davenport HR, 3 RBI. Jabari Flemon 2B. Kaden Myers 2B.
Tuesday
Dorman – 0-0-0-1-2-0-4 – 7, 13, 0
Blythewood – 0-1-0-0-0-0-0 – 1, 8, 3
WP: Jackson Wyatt.
Hitters: D – Mitch Wilson 3-4, HR, 2 RBI. Campbell Whitener 3-4, 2 RBI. Tyler Camara HR. Clay Crossley 2-4. B –Jackson Bottar 2-3, 2B. Harrison Collins 2-3. Alex Myers 2-4.
