Dillon’s #18 Rae Rae McGirt pitches to Waccamaw on Friday night. (Photos by Shannon Sawyer Carter.)
After dropping a non-conference game against East Clarendon, the Dillon Wildcats earned region wins over Waccamaw and Mullins last week in varsity baseball action.
On Thursday, April 9, Dillon took a 6-2 loss on the road against East Clarendon, with the Wolverines reaching first in the bottom of the second on a fielder’s choice hit, advancing on stolen bases, and scoring on an error. Dillon got on the board in the top of the third as Blake Deese reached on a hit by pitch, advanced on a single from John Mitchell Carter and a fielder’s choice hit from Joseph Scott, and scored on an error to tie the game 1-1.
But the Wolverines broke loose for four runs in the bottom of the fifth, reaching on a hit by pitch and an error, with singles from Peyton Coker and Collin Lee advancing the runners. Steven Cox drew a walk, advanced on a walk from William Ard, stole third, and scored on an error for the fourth run to put the Wolverines up 5-1.
Dillon’s Kaleb Page led off the top of the sixth with a single and advanced on a passed ball. A grounder from Cody Johnson advanced Page to third, where he scored on another passed ball. But Dekendrick Graves hit a grounder and Deese struck out to end the inning with the Wildcats trailing 5-2. The Wolverines flew out to open the bottom of the inning, but Peyton Coker doubled and Lee singled to bring him home for the 6-2 lead.
In the seventh, Carter led off with a grounder for one out, and Scott flew out for the second. Duncan Callahan reached on a hit by pitch, and Patrick Herring and Austin Moody both singled to advance Callahan to third before Page hit a grounder to end the game.
Ryan Kwilton earned the win for the Wolverines, pitching a complete game for seven hits, two runs, one walk, two hit by pitch, two wild pitches, and six outs.
The Wildcats had four pitchers on the mound, with Austin Moody pitching four innings for three runs, one earned run, one hit by pitch, and two outs. Joseph Scott pitched 1.2 innings for two hits, one run, one earned run, one hit by pitch, and one out; Blake Deese pitched one third of an inning for one walk; and Rae Rae McGirt gave up two hits, two runs, two earned runs, and two walks on the mound for Dillon.
At bat for the Wildcats, Blake Deese went 1-for-2 with one run; Kaleb Page went 1-for-4 with one run; Dekendrick Graves and John Mitchell Carter both went 1-for-3; and Joseph Scott, Patrick Herring, and Austin Moody each went 1-for-4. Dillon had seven hits and seven errors.
East Clarendon had just four hits in the win, with Collin Lee going 2-for-4 with two RBI; Peyton Coker going 2-for-4 with a double and two runs scored; William Ard picking up one RBI on a walk; Thomas Bryant picking up one run and one RBI; and Dylan Coker, Michael Burgess, and Steven Cox each scoring one run.
On Tuesday, April 14, the Wildcats earned an 11-1 win over Mullins at home in Dillon. The Auctioneers opened the game with a single from Gerrald, who stole second, advanced on a grounder from Squires, and scored on a passed ball to put Mullins up 1-0 in the top of the first.
Dillon led the rest of the way, picking up two runners in the bottom of the first, one in the fourth, two in the fifth, and sixth in the bottom of the sixth inning. The Wildcats reached on a walk and a hit by pitch in the bottom of the first, and Moody hit a solo homer in the fourth to put Dillon up 3-1. Scott and Omar McCollum both drew walks and came home on errors in the fifth for a 5-1 lead.
In the sixth, Gunnar Grossetti drew a walk, Charles Sowells singled, Carter reached on a bad pitch, and Scott hit a fielder’s choice that scored Grossetti and allowed him to reach first. Callahan hit a sacrifice fly to score Sowells, and Herring singled to score Rouse and help bring in Scott, and McCollum singled to give the Wildcats two runners on base. Page hit a fly for the second out, and Moody drew a walk to load the bases before a single from Grossetti brought home the runners to end the game on the 10-run rule.
Omar McCollum got the win on the mound, pitching six innings for three hits, one run, three walks, and seven outs. For the Auctioneers, Ard pitched five innings for two hits, five runs, three earned runs, four walks, one hit by pitch, one out, and one homer. Fowler pitched two-thirds of the final inning for four hits, six runs, six earned runs, and three walks.
The Wildcats had six hits and one error in the win, with Grossetti leading at bat, going 2-for-3 with a double, one RBI, and one run scored. Moody went 1-for-3 for a home run, one RBI, and one run; McCollum went 1-for-3 with two RBI and two runs scored; Herring went 1-for-4 with one RBI; Graves went 1-for-1 with one run; Scott scored three runs with one RBI; Callahan scored one run and one RBI; Carter scored one run; and Andrew Rowell picked up one run.
Mullins had three hits and three errors with Fowler and Ard each going 1-for-3 and Gerrald going 1-for-3 with Mullins’ lone run.
A scheduled game against the Latta Vikings on Thursday was canceled due to the rain, but the Wildcats were back in action on Friday to host the Waccamaw Warriors for a 3-0 win.
The Wildcats opened the bottom of the first with an out and single from Herring, but McCollum hit into a fielder’s choice to reach first and put Herring out on the way to second. Moody followed with a double that helped score McCollum, and came home himself on errors for a 2-0 lead.
In the fifth, Graves hit a double to open the bottom of the inning and advanced on a sacrifice bunt from Scott to score on a grounder from Carter for the 3-0 final score.
Rae Rae McGirt pitched five innings for three hits and six walks, striking out eight, and Moody pitched two innings for one out in the win. Waccamaw’s Forrest Powell pitched six innings for four hits, three urns, three earned runs, and four outs.
The Wildcats had four hits and one error in the win, with Moody going 1-for-3 for a double, one RBI, and one run, and Graves going 1-for-2 for a double and one run scored. Herring went 1-for-3; Scott went 1-for-2; Carter picked up one RBI; and McCollum scored one run on a fielder’s choice hit.
Waccamaw had three hits and one error with Carter Cox going 1-for-2; Will Golden, 1-for-3; and Levi Almond, 1-for-4.
Dillon improved to 8-5 in the regular season and 7-1 in Region 8-A to lead the region.
The Wildcats will be at Aynor tonight and will wrap up the regular season at Marion on Friday at 6:30 p.m.
Photos by Shannon Sawyer Carter. Click the images below to view at full size!
