WINNSBORO – The baseball regular season is just days from its beginning, and the Fairfield Central Griffins have looked sharp in the first two days of their Griffin Invitational Preseason Tournament. After they clobbered Keenan 15-1 on day one, the Griffins followed suit on day two with a 9-1 win over the Great Falls Red Devils.
Taylor Truesdale (3) attempts to lay down a bunt. | DeAnna Robinson
Despite the lopsided final score, Great Falls struck first. Ty Beaver provided the Devils’ first and only score with an RBI-single that plated Connor Henson. Henson, the leadoff batter, reached with single before Beaver’s RBI.
Defensive errors cost Great Falls their first and only lead of the game. Montavious Thompson, the Griffins’ leadoff man, batted a single in his first go and used his wheels to come home after a throwing error at third base.
Taylor Truesdale, Fairfield’s second batter of the game, was walked in his first plate appearance, and like Thompson, he crossed the plate after a wild-pitch. Truesdale’s run gave the Griffins a 2-1 early lead and they did not look back.
Antonio Jackson put some padding on the Griffins’ lead in the third inning. Jackson came up with a big two-RBI single that scored Dylan Kurtz and the speedster Thompson.
Griffins’ sophomore pitcher Jacob McManus effectively muted the Red Devil offense after the first inning. McManus finished the night with 10 strikeouts and only surrendered two hits after the first inning RBI-single.
Great Falls only trailed by three runs in the fourth inning, despite their lackluster night at the plate, but in the fourth inning the wheels came completely off. They cycled through four pitchers in the fourth inning and allowed five runs off of walks or wild pitches.
McManus capped off his five inning complete-game and shut the window on Great Falls with three more strikeouts in the final inning.
The Griffins begin their regular season on the road at Indian Land on Mar.6.
FCHS:2-0-2-5-X- 9
GFHS:1-0-0-0-0-1
Pitching: FCHS- Jacob McManus (W) CG, 4H, 2R, 1ER, 4BB, 10K. GFHS- Koby Ruff(L), 3.2IP, 3H, 4R, 2ER, 5BB, 9K. Ty Beaver .1IP, 1BB.
Hitting: 1B- Montavious Thompson, Taylor Truesdale, Antonio Jackson (FCHS); Connor Henson (2), Ty Beaver (2) (GFHS).
