By Justin Jarrett
LowcoSports.com
After securing their first region baseball title last week, the Bridges Prep Buccaneers have earned a fortuitous draw in the SCHSL 2A playoffs.
The Bucs, ranked ninth in SCHSL 2A in the final S.C. Baseball Coaches Association rankings of the season, wouldn’t have to face a team ranked ahead of them in the poll until the Lower State tournament. Even then, the two Lower State teams ranked ahead of the Bucs — No. 3 Philip Simmons and No. 4 East Clarendon — have to square off in the district round, so Bridges will only have to worry about one of them.
Bridges (19-4) rattled off 11 straight wins before dropping two of its last three regular-season games — both outside the 2A classification — but they have their pitching lined up to make a run through the district bracket, and perhaps earn some revenge along the way.
The Bucs open with a struggling Mullins team at home Tuesday, and with a win they would be back at home Thursday against Academic Magnet or Cheraw. Academic Magnet beat the Bucs 10-0 back on March 3, but Bridges bounced back for a 9-7 win over the Raptors three days later.
JPII’s bats stagnant in 2-and-out
John Paul II’s baseball team racked up double-digit runs seven times this season — more than one-third of the Golden Warriors games — but the bats were silent during JPII’s short-lived postseason.
The Golden Warriors (13-7) ran into some dominant pitchers in a 2-0 loss to Augusta Christian, as Mark Hamlin, James Cressend and Maddox Nuckols combined for a two-hit shutout to outduel JPII’s Stewart Misko. A day later it was Hammond School’s Worth Lundy who stymied the Golden Warriors, striking out nine and scattering five walks and a hit batter across a no-hitter to lead the Skyhawks to a 4-2 win and eliminate JPII.
Bucs’ Herndon hits 100 K’s
Bridges Prep softball pitcher Carly Herndon hasn’t even hit high school yet, but she’s already reached a milestone that many high school pitchers only dream of — and she’s done it twice.
Herndon has racked up 100 strikeouts for the second consecutive season, leading the Bucs to a 12-8 record and a No. 2 seed in the SCHSL 2A playoffs.
The eighth-grader has been a workhorse for the Bucs, pitching 92 ⅓ innings — all but two innings this season — and compiling 101 strikeouts against 41 walks while posting a 3.64 ERA.
Bridges Prep opens the district tournament at home Wednesday against Lake City and will face either Andrew Jackson or Marion on Thursday.