BLYTHEWOOD – The Blythewood baseball team (23-3, 12-0 Region 5-5A) beat Ridge View 17-0 in three innings Thursday to finish out region play, but fell at defending 5A Division 1 Lexington 5-2 in a nonregion game Friday.
The Bengals, who won the region championship for the second year in a row and clinched a 20-win season for the sixth time in seven years, had a 2-0 lead going into the bottom of the seventh inning against the Wildcats before they watched the game get away.
Chance Johnson broke a scoreless tie in the fifth inning with a 2-run home run, but the Bengals faced trouble in the final inning.
Blythewood pitcher Johnny Collins, who scattered six hits and struck out seven going into the seventh, walked Ethan Madden to start things up. With pinch runner Victor Kaczenski on base and after Hamp Watts popped out, Christian Spivey reached on an infield error. A second infield error enabled Kaczenski to score and Graham Coleman to reach base.
Collins struck out Jackson Keiper for the second out but walked Jones Bell to load the bases for Allen Hegler.
Hegler soon took a 2-0 pitch over the leftfield fence for a walk-off grand slam that handed the Bengals their first loss in over a month.
Against Ridge View Thursday, Andrew Blackwell got the win for Blythewood. Sergio Melendez doubled and drove in two runs, Navy Strickland had three hits and two RBI, Amare Counts had two hits and three RBI, and Collins was 2-for-4 with four RBI. Cooper Penfield doubled.
The Bengals await the winner of the Mauldin-Rock Hill best-of-three play-in series in the 5A Division I District 3 tournament Saturday at Blythewood.
Blythewood softball (13-5) did not see action until the 5A Division 1 District 2 tournament, which began Monday. The Bengals were idle Monday and played Spring Valley Wednesday in the upper state bracket. Scores were not available prior to The Voice’s press deadline.
The winner of that game will play the Wade Hampton-Boiling Springs winner Friday.
Blythewood – 2-4-11-X-X-X-X – 17-10-0
Ridge View – 0-0-0-X-X-X-X – 0-2-6
WP: Andrew Blackwell, 3 IP, 2H, 0R, 0ER, 1BB, 3K.
B – Sergio Melendez 2B, 2 RBI. Navy Strickland 3-4, 2 RBI. Amare Counts 2-3, 3 RBI. Johnny Collins 2-2, 4 RBI. Cooper Penfield 2B.
Blythewood – 0-0-0-0-2-0-0 – 2-4-3
Lexington – 0-0-0-0-0-0-5 – 5-7-0
WP: Reider Carlson, 7 IP, 4H, 2R, 2ER, 2BB, 6K.
B –Chance Johnson HR, 2 RBI.
H – Hegler 2-4, HR, 4 RBI. Spivey 2-4. Kelper 2-4.