Dillon’s #1 Joseph Scott hits one to right for a triple to start the seventh inning. (Photos by Johnnie Daniels/THE DILLON HERALD.)
The Dillon Wildcats fell 6-3 to the Ninety Six Wildcats on Wednesday, May 20, as Ninety Six claimed the Class 2A state baseball title.
Duncan Callahan started on the mound for Dillon and held off Ninety-Six through the top of the first. With one out, Jon-Mitchell Carter got the first hit of the game in the bottom of the inning, getting one to center for a single. Patrick Herring followed with a grounder to the pitcher, which Ninety Six turned into a double play to end the first inning.
Ninety Six went three up, three out in the top of the second, and Austin Moody led off the bottom of the inning with a grounder to first, reaching on an error. Callahan flew out to right for the first out, and Kaleb Page hit a grounder to the short stop that allowed him to reach first but took out Moody at second. But an interference call threw both runners out to keep the game scoreless after two.
Ninety Six had a grounder and a fly to open the top of the third and lined one out to center to send Dillon back up to bat. But the Wildcats couldn’t get any momentum with three grounders in a row from Joseph Scott, Gunnar Grossetti, and Dekendrick Graves.
With one out in the top of the fourth, Ninety Six’s Ryan Franklin drew a walk and stole second on the next at bat. Another walk for Brandon Pruitt put runners on first and second before Spencer Williams hit one to center for a double to score Franklin. A walk for Chad Fairey loaded the bases, and Wyatt Owens hit a chopper over third to score Pruitt and Williams for a 3-0 lead. With runners on first and second, the next batter sent one to second but was put out on the way to first while the runners advanced to second and third. Evan Sellers came up to bat next, punching one between first and second to pick up the two runners before getting thrown out trying to stretch into a double.
With Ninety Six up 5-0, the Wildcats opened the bottom of the fourth with Omar McCollum chopping one to third for the first out. Carter followed with a hit to the center field fence for a double, and Herring hit a home run to put Dillon on the board. Moody hit a pop up to the catcher for the second out, and Page flew out to leave the Wildcats trailing 5-2.
In the top of the fifth, Ninety Six opened with a grounder to the short stop for the first out. Jacob Childress reached on an error, and a hit between the short stop and third from Franklin put runners on first and second. Pruitt watched a low pitch while the designated runner stole third before Dillon brought in Rae Rae McGirt in relief of Callahan. Pruitt drew a walk to load the bases, and Williams hit a high hopper to first and the Wildcats let a runner slip by to put Ninety Six up 6-2. Fairey flew out to end the inning with the bases still loaded.
In the bottom of the fifth, Scott and Grossetti each flew out but Graves hit one to the short stop and reached on an error. A grounder to the short stop allowed Dillon to reach on another error, but Carter flew out to end the inning.
Ninety Six opened the sixth with two outs and McGirt struck out the third batter to send Dillon back to bat. Childress struck out Herring to open the bottom of the inning, and Moody hit a slow grounder for the second out before McGirt hit one between the short stop and third for a single. But Page flew out to leave him stranded at the end of the inning.
In the seventh, Ninety Six popped one up to the catcher for the first out, and two grounders sent Dillon to bat. Scott hit one to right for a triple to open the bottom of the inning, and Grossetti followed with a single to score him to leave Dillon trailing 6-3. Childress struck out Graves for the first out, and McCollum popped one up to second for the second before Grossetti was thrown out trying to return to first to end the game.
Childress got the win, giving up six hits and three earned runs, striking out three. Callahan took the loss, giving up four hits, five earned runs, and three walks with two outs.
Dillon finished the season with a 16-8 record overall.
Photos by Johnnie Daniels/THE DILLON HERALD.
