PROSPERITY, S.C. — Mid-Carolina will continue their playoffs journey as they earn a second round win at home on Thursday evening. The Rebels(21-6, 9-0 region 3-AA) defeated Ninety Six(12-12, 3-3 region 2-AA) by the score of 12-8 in the second round of the 2A baseball state playoffs.
This playoffs match between the longtime 2A class rivals had it all from calls being overturned, a fan being ejected, a pitcher’s duel, a lot of runs being scored and a coach reaching an historic career milestone. The Rebels’ head coach Lindsey Stribble earned his 250th career on Thursday, May 8th at home and a second round playoffs victory all wrapped in one.
“It’s been a lot of fun. I’ve been around some really good players and had some really good teams. I am also very blessed to the coaches we have and to be in community where baseball is very important. We try to go out and make them proud but this also shows that I have been around a little bit of time now[smiling]. I’m getting old but I am very proud of it,” said Stribble.
It was a pitcher’s duel between the Rebels starter senior Kaden Myers and Wildcats starter Devin Butler. The two teams went scoreless for nearly two innings and couldn’t get anything going at the plate. Gage Hunter finally gave the Rebels a lift with a single at the bottom of the second inning. Mid-Carolina would get two more runners on base to get the bases loaded and Colby Livingston hits a hard ground ball through the middle of the infield to drive home a run for his squad.
The Wildcats limited the damage, but the Rebels held a 1-0 lead heading into the third inning. Myers had another flawless inning at the top of the third as he retired all three batters he faced and struck two of them out.
Butler gave up nothing at the bottom of third inning and the score still remained 1-0 in favor of the Rebels. The top of fourth inning was a bit of a struggle for the right handed senior. Myers gave up just his second hit of the game and another hit shortly after. Then, he got called for balk with bases loaded and that scored the Wildcats first run of the game to tie it at 1-1. Myers felt some discomfort in his right foot after slipping on the mound, and needed attention from the athletic trainer. He would stay in the game and overcome the foot injury.
Ninety Six would get their first lead of the game with a infield hit to score another run, and then added another run later on in the inning for some insurance.
The Rebels trailed 3-1 going into the bottom half of the third inning, but that deficit didn’t last long. Cade Moore got things going with a single. Senior Caleb Black showed his power by sending a moon shot over the left field wall to tie the game with a two-run home run.
Unfortunately, that ended the day for Butler but he gave the Wildcats a great outing on the mound. Sopohmore Landon Wicker took advantage of the new arm on the mound and gave the Rebels the lead back with a RBI single that was hit hard over the outstretched arms of the Wildcats’ first baseman.
“We played some really good teams this year including some 5A schools to get us ready for these moments. I think that helps but night in and night out it seems like somebody else has been able to step up. It’s been kind of up and down with some guys and they have struggled a bit but came through in big moments. Caleb Black had a big swing tonight to get us right back in the game that got us going a bit and the other guys took over. That was big and huge to know that we are never out of it,” mentioned Stribble.
Myers gave himself some run support and drove in another base runner for a score with a RBI single of his own. Mid-Carolina would take a 5-3 lead into the fifth inning. Luke Milling would take over for Myers on the mound at the top of the fifth inning. His day finished with four innings pitched, allowed three hits, three runs and seven strike outs.
Ninety Six got Milling in a jam with the bases loaded at the top of the fifth inning. They would drive in one score and cut the deficit, 5-4, before Milling got the Rebels out of the jam.
The fireworks began at the bottom of the fifth inning. It started with the Rebels getting three runners on base to load them up before the Wildcats made another pitching change. Then, a heated exchange between a parent of Mid-Carolina and the home plate umpire. He first issued a warning to the Rebels bench and spoke with Stribble. That wasn’t enough and moments later the fan was tossed by the home plate umpire.
After the ejection, the Rebels got refocused and began an onslaught of runs. It started with a walked batter to score their first run of the inning. Another walked batter scored another run. Ninety Six would go to the bullpen again to stop the bleeding, but that didn’t help because Myers would get another RBI to make it a 8-4 lead for the home team.
More fireworks would be lit after the Wildcats’ fans disagreed with an overturned called at first base. The initial call was an out after a routine ground ball that forced the first basemen to stretch. Stribble spoke with the two umpires and they determined the Ninety Six first baseman was out and the inning continued. The Rebels would go on to add four more runs and took a 12-4 lead into the sixth inning.
Ninety Six would score three runs to cut the deficit at the top of the sixth inning and force Mid-Carolina to go to their bullpen. Lawson Lawrence would close out the game for the Rebels and they would hold off the feisty Wildcats for second round playoffs victory and Stribble’s 250th career win.
“First off, that is a really good team over there and Chad Ellis and his staff does a really good job year in and year out. It seems like my whole career we have been playing Ninety Six and they have been right there. They have won some championships and it’s a good program,” Stribble stated.
He continued, “We faced some adversity and they battled Kaden tough. He had an injury but did finish the game at short for us. The other guys came in and battled too. We weren’t quite our best and they[Ninety Six] had a lot to do with that. They had some really good at bats. Their approach was good, they shorten up, had a good eye up there and put a lot of balls in play. Just an overall good atmosphere for a playoffs game and we are very fortunate to come out of here with a win tonight.”
Mid-Carolina will get to enjoy their weekend before returning back to the diamond on Monday, May 12th. They are currently awaiting for some second round games to conclude to see who their next opponent will be.