Dillon's #10 Austin Moody went 3-for-4 at bat against Waccamaw on Tuesday night. (Photos by Shannon Sawyer Carter.)
The Dillon Wildcats defeated Region 8-2A rival Waccamaw 10-1 on the road on Tuesday night to advance to the lower state championship in the Class 2A baseball playoffs.
The Wildcats and the Warriors both finished the regular season with an 8-2 record, but the Wildcats took the region title on the runs allowed rule. Both teams went undefeated through the district playoffs, and Dillon downed Aynor 9-3 in the first round of the lower state bracket while Waccamaw bumped off Bishop England 2-1.
After a scoreless first inning on Tuesday night, Dillon took a 1-0 lead in the top of the second inning. Austin Moody singled and stole second, and Duncan Callahan drew a walk. Kaleb Page made a sacrifice bunt to advance the runners, and Joseph Scott singled to score Moody. Gunnar Grossetti hit into a fielder’s choice to put Scott out on the way to second, and Dekendrick Graves lined out to end the inning.
The Wildcats went three up, three down in the top of the third. In the bottom of the inning, Waccamaw got into scoring position with Brady Gantt drawing a walk, advancing on an error, and reaching third on a sacrifice bunt from Hampton Roberts. But a fly from Connor Eckard and an out for Carter Fox ended the inning with Gantt stranded.
In the top of the fourth, the Wildcats broke loose for eight runs with Moody, Callahan, and Page each getting a base hit to lead off. Moody stole third and scored on Page’s hit, and Scott made a sacrifice bunt to advance the runners. A series of base hits from Grossetti, Graves, Omar McCollum, Jon-Mitchell Carter, and Patrick Herring kept the bases loaded before Moody hit a triple to clean house. But Callahan and Page both flew out to end the inning with Dillon ahead 9-0.
Neither team could cross the plate in the fifth, though both teams got one runner to third. In the sixth, Herring led off with a single and advance don a grounder, but was left stranded at second, and in the bottom of the inning, Waccamaw went three up, three down.
Dillon capped the win with one run in the top of the seventh. Scott reached on a hit by pitch, advanced on a wild pitch and a fielder’s choice from Grossetti, and scored on a toss up.
Waccamaw scored their only run in the bottom of the seventh inning with Gantt reaching on a walk. Gantt advanced to second on a single from Roark and reached third on a wild pitch before scoring on a fielder’s choice from Eckard.
Duncan Callahan got the win on the mound, pitching six innings for one hit, one run, one earned run, six walks, one wild pitch, and five outs. Joseph Scott pitched one inning for three outs.
Forest Powell took the loss for Waccamaw, pitching 3.1 innings for six hits, five runs, five earned runs, one walk, and one out. Christian Hendrickson pitched two and two-thirds innings for two hits and two outs; Karl Strittmatter pitched one inning for one hit by pitch and one earned run; and Justin Busby took a turn on the mound for five hits and four earned runs.
At bat for the Wildcats, Austin Moody went 3-for-4 with a triple, two RBI, two stolen bases, and two runs scored; Patrick Herring went 2-for-4 with a double, one RBI and one run scored; Dekendrick Graves went 2-for-3 with two RBI and one run scored; Gunnar Grossetti went 2-for-4 with one RBI and one run, also hitting into two fielder’s choice plays; Joseph Scott went 1-for-2 with one RBI and one run; Kaleb Page went 1-for-3 with one RBI and one run with a sacrifice bunt; Duncan Callahan went 1-for-3 with one run, also reaching on a walk; Omar McCollum went 1-for-5 with one RBI and one run; and Jon-Mitchell Carter went 1-for-5 with one run scored.
For Waccamaw, Daniel Roark went 1-for-3 for the Warriors’ only hit and also reached on an error. Connor Eckard picked up one RBI with a fielder’s choice and a walk; Brady Gantt scored one run and drew two walks; and Hampton Roberts made a sacrifice bunt and reached on an error.
Dillon improved to 14-4 overall as they advanced to the lower state championship. The Wildcats will host the game on Friday.
In the Class 2A lower state elimination bracket, Waccamaw was set to host Bishop England on Wednesday after the Bishops eliminated Aynor 4-3 on Monday. Wednesday’s winner will face the Wildcats on Friday and will have to beat Dillon twice to claim the lower state title.
Photos by Shannon Sawyer Carter. Click the images below to view at full size!
