WINNSBORO – Baseball was a little more fun than usual at Fairfield Central on Tuesday as the varsity squad put on a scoring fest with a 21-2 win over Lower Richland for Future Griffin night.
Players from Fairfield County’s youth recreation league joined in the fun with special recognition prior to the game.
The Griffins followed up their win with a race around the bases and time for autographing jerseys.
Lower Richland opened the game with four singles and that they stretched into a 2-0 lead after the first. Those four singles would be their only hits of the game as Fairfield locked down in the remaining innings.
Tyon Belton singled on a one-out bunt to ignite the Griffin offense in the bottom of the first. A Jonathan Warren double to left scored Belton. A fly out and strikeout ended the inning.
Landon Morgan struck out the side in the top of the second, tallying three of his eight strikeouts in the four-inning game.
Down 2-1 in the bottom of the second, Mason Nellums was hit by a Lower Richland pitch. Watkins, in as courtesy runner for Nellums, stole second. Erdreus Walker singled to right to score Watkins and tie the game at 2. Walker stole second, then scored off of a Blake Gambrell single to left. Gambrell advanced to second on a fielding error. He stole third, then scored on an error by the Lower Richland third baseman.
Belton drew a walk, but a double play ended the inning with Fairfield up 4-2.
The Griffins added to their lead in the bottom of the third after Trey Wilcox tripled, Bradford Trapp singled, Lower Richland committed an error, Gambrell singled, Belton walked and Warren walked, each scoring a run. The six-run inning put Fairfield up 10-2.
A combination of hits, walks, and hit batters put Fairfield up 17-2 with two outs in the bottom of the fourth. Walker, who singled in the second, hit an inside the park grand slam to end the game.
Morgan picked up the win for Fairfield. He surrendered four hits and two runs (one earned) in his four-inning stretch. He struck out eight.
The Griffins ran wild on the bases, racking up 15 stolen bases in the game.
The win moves the Griffins to 14-3 on the season. Following a 5-2 loss against Richard Winn last Monday, they recovered to defeat Keenan 12-1 on Tuesday, Lower Richland 15-1 on Thursday, and Keenan 5-0 on Friday.
Fairfield awaits SCHSL 2A Playoff seedings. The first round of the double-elimination bracket will begin on Tuesday, April 30.
A three-game state final series will be held May 18, May 21 and May 25.
LR – 2-0-0-0-X-X-X – 2, 4, 4
FC – 1-3-6-11-X-X-X – 21, 13, 2
WP– L Morgan
FC: E Walker 2-3, HR, 5 RBI. J Warren 2-3, 2B, RBI. T Wilcox 1-2, 3B, RBI. B Gambrell 3-4, 2 RBI. T Belton 1-1. L Morgan 1-2, RBI. Watkins 1-1, RBI. B Trapp 1-3, RBI. G Ginyard 1-1, RBI.
