PROSPERITY — Another week, another string of victories from Mid-Carolina High School baseball. While they have not had a loss since the start of the playoffs, the streak goes back to March. Since losing to rival Strom Thurmond (recently eliminated from the Upper State Tournament) on March 21, the Rebels have beaten everyone who gets on the diamond with them.
The Upper District II Championship game against Fox Creek was just another rung on the ladder as Jace Martin allowed only two runs over six innings while striking out ten Fox Creek batters. The final score was 5-0 with Michael Lindler scoring two runs with a home run shot in his only at bat.
With the region and district titles in hand, the Rebels began their quest for the SCHSL Class AA Upper State Championship against Pelion last Thursday. Still playing in a double-elimination format for this stage of the playoffs, Mid-Carolina sent the Panthers to face elimination after beating them 10-0. While good batting from Jabari Flemon (2-3, 2 RBIs), Hayden Lake (3 RBIs), and Lindler (2 RBIs) got the Rebels to 10 runs, a shutout from pitcher Jacob Clark triggered the mercy rule after five innings.
The next step to the Upper State Championship brought the Rebels face-to-face with the War Eagles of Gray Collegiate Academy. This game was arguably the biggest challenge for Mid-Carolina thus far in the postseason as the game was deadlocked at two runs each going into the final inning. District Championship winning pitcher Jace Martin started for the Rebels and had nine strikeouts to four hits, but Kaden Myers got the last out of the seventh inning in relief. Myers later earned the win after his team was able to load the bases and get the walk-off run to take the game by a final score of 3-2.