BLYTHEWOOD – Blythewood head baseball coach Travis Poole said last week that he would like to see the Bengals go up early and shut down opponents’ rallies. On Thursday at Sumter, he watched his team do just that.
Blythewood (20-2, 10-0) put up nine runs in the second inning and scored seven more runs in the later innings as the Bengals routed the Gamecocks 16-4 in five innings.
Starting pitcher Andrew Blackwell pitched all five innings and gave up four runs—three earned—on eight hits. He walked three and struck out two.
Sergio Melendez led the Bengals with three hits, including two doubles, and batted in two runs. Navy Strickland was also 3-for-5 with two RBI, and Andrew Blackwell was 3-for-4. Chance Johnson and Cooper Penfield each had two hits and two RBI, and Chance Johnson hit a 2-run double. Brandon Bolton also doubled and Caleb Blackwell drove in two runs.
The Bengals played host to nonregion opponent Lexington Friday and another one of their late-inning rallies paid off once again in a 5-4 victory over the Wildcats.
With the game tied 4-4 in the bottom of the seventh, leadoff batter Melendez reached base on a dropped third strike. Strickland sacrifice bunted Melendez over to second and Amare Counts was intentionally walked to bring up Bolton at the plate with one out. After fouling off a pitch Bolton grounded a single into centerfield to bring Melendez home in a walk-off score.
Bolton was 2-for-4 on the night with a two-run home run in the first inning and three RBI.
Chance Johnson got the win on the mound for pitching two innings of relief of starting pitcher Bowman Rummel.
Blythewood baseball plays host to Camden for a non-region game Friday and plays its final two games of the region slate against Ridge View Tuesday and Thursday.
Thursday
Blythewood – 0-9-3-0-4 – 16-16-1
Sumter – 0-1-3-0-0 – 4-8-3
WP: Andrew Blackwell, 5 IP, 8H, 4R, 3ER, 3BB, 2K.
B –Sergio Melendez 3-5, 2B(2), 2 RBI. Navy Strickland 3-5, 2 RBI. Andrew Blackwell 3-4. Chance Johnson 2-3, 2 RBI. Cooper Penfield 2-3, 2 RBI. Chance Johnson 2B, 2 RBI. Brandon Bolton 2B. Caleb Blackwell 2 RBI.
H – Brady Ardis 2-3.
Friday
Lexington – 0-1-1-0-0-2-0 – 4-10-1
Blythewood – 2-0-1-0-0-1-1 – 5-7-0
WP: Chance Johnson, 2 IP, 3H, 2R, 2ER, 3BB.
L –Christian Spivey 2-4, 2B, 2 RBI. Hamp Watts 2-3.
B – Brandon Bolton 2-4, HR, 3 RBI.