Bulldogs, Wolverines & Rebels all advance to the second round of baseball state playoffs

NEWBERRY — All of the three area varsity baseball teams that were in action on Tuesday evening in Newberry County will be advancing to the second round of the state playoffs. Mid-Carolina High School , Newberry High School and Whitmire were all in action on Tuesday, May 6th. Two of the three teams had to go on the road, but that didn’t matter.

Newberry, 6 vs. Orangeburg-Wilkinson, 4

The Bulldogs(14-11, 7-5 region 5-AAA) started their postseason journey on the road in the first round against the Bruins(8-10, 3-4 region 8-AAA).

Newberry got off to a hot start by scoring two quick runs at the top of the first inning. The Bruins responded by putting one run on the scoreboard, but still trailed the hometown Bulldogs 2-1 at the end of the first inning.

The Bulldogs took off in the second inning to give themselves a huge lead. They were able to score four runs at the top of the inning and held a 6-1 lead.

Things got a little tight for Newberry as Orangeburg-Wilkinson were able to score two runs at the bottom of the fifth inning to cut the deficit down, 6-3. It got even tighter with a late push at the bottom of the seventh inning with a score, but the Bulldogs were able to hold them for the first round win.

Newberry will now turn their focus to Aynor(14-4, 8-1 region 7-AAA). The Bulldogs will be back on the road on Thursday, May 8th with a start time of 6:30 p.m.

Whitmire, 7 vs. Horse Creek Academy, 5

Whitmire(11-14, 7-5 region 2-A) also had to hit the road for the first round of the playoffs to face Horse Creek Academy(9-13, 7-3 region) on Tuesday, May 6th.

The two teams were tied at 1-1 after the first inning with the Wolverines striking first at the top of the first inning. The Wolverines took the lead again with a score at the top of the second inning. They led 2-1 at the end of the second inning.

Both teams scored a pair of runs each in the third inning, but the Stallions still found themselves trailing 5-4 at the end of the third inning. The two teams repeated the same thing in the fifth inning by scoring a pair of runs in the inning. The Wolverines still held a 6-5 lead going into the final two innings. Whitmire added a run at the top of seventh inning for insurance and punched their ticket to the second round of the state playoffs.

Crue Keller started on the mound and he pitched 6.2 innings. He gave up eight hits and allowed just three runs. Senior Blake Stribble closed the game for Whitmire. The Wolverines had 10 hits and four errors on defense.

Keller and Stribble also combined for three hits while Keller had a RBI. Aiden Vicars also had two hits and a RBI.

Mid-Carolina, 12 vs. Brashier Middle College Charter, 0

Mid-Carolina(19-7, 9-0 region 3-AA) was the only area baseball team to host a home playoffs game in the first round. They cruised past Brashier Middle College Charter(9-13, 4-8 region 1-AA) with a 12-0 win.

The Rebels threw a no-hitter in their dismantling of the Bengals in the first round of the playoffs. They quickly put runs on the scoreboard at the bottom of the first inning. They lead 5-0 at the end of first and didn’t take their foots off the gas.

Mid-Carolina followed their explosive first inning with three more runs at the bottom of the second inning and four runs at the bottom of the third inning. They combined for 12 hits as a team. The Rebels haven’t announced their second round opponent yet, but round two is scheduled to start on Thursday, May 8th.