PROSPERITY, S.C. — The Rebels couldn’t overcome the defending champs dominate bullpen and fell short at home in the second round of the district playoffs. Mid-Carolina(16-10-1, 7-1 region 3-AA) fell to Batesburg-Leesville(16-8, 8-3 region 2-AA) 2-1 at home on Thursday, May 7.
The second round of the district playoffs featured the 2025 AA defending state champs and the 2024 AA state runner-ups. Luke Milling got the start on the mound for the Rebels, and he was dominate after he overcame some early struggles in the first inning.
The Panthers started the game on fire and took an early lead at the top of the first inning. The first two hitters in the Panthers’ lineup reached base to get things started for them on offense. The visitors kept their good momentum going with a RBI single to score the first run of the game and to give themselves a 1-0 lead. Milling settled down and began to go to work with back-to-back strikeouts. He then forced Batesburg-Leesville into a pop fly for the final out to get out of the jam.
The Rebels couldn’t get anything going at the plate at the bottom of the first inning and still trailed 1-0 going into the second inning. Milling continued to his dominant pitching performance and gives up nothing to the Panthers. Ryder Thompson got the first hit of the game for the Rebels at the bottom of the second inning and it was rocket sent deep to left field but hit the wall. Unfortunately, he was left stranded on base because no one could get anything going at the plate to bring him for the score.
The Rebels had another opportunity to score at the bottom of the third inning but came up short again. Tanner Shell got things started with a double. Then, the Rebels got another base runner with a walk. The two runners were left stranded on first and third base after Mid-Carolina couldn’t find a way to bring them in for a score.
Milling night was done after the fifth inning. He allowed three hits, had six strikeouts and only gave up one run. Lawson Lawrence replaced him at the top of sixth inning and he was picked up where Milling left off. He too had some early struggles but was able to shake it off. He walked the first batter he faced and gave up a hit to put two runners on base for Batesburg-Leesville. The Panthers would then score on sacrifice pop fly to extend their lead to 2-0. Lawrence would get the Rebels out of the jam though.
The bottom of the sixth inning was much of the same for the home team. They would again leave two runners stranded on base and would be down to their last three outs at the bottom of the seventh inning. Now, fast forward to the bottom of the seventh inning where Mid-Carolina would start to make some noise. The home team would load up the bases while having two more outs to play with. They finally scored on sacrifice pop fly to make things much tighter. They still trailed 2-1 and needed to bring another run home to at least tie the game and play extra innings. Again, the Rebels came up short and would leave two runners on base stranded to end a tightly contested pitcher’s duel.
“Luke Milling has pitched well for us all year. We expected him to give us a quality start and he did. Lawson came in at the end and gave us a chance as well. There guy, Tyler Neese, is really good too. He is one of the best in the state and we stood toe-to-toe with the defending 2A champs. We just didn’t get the big hit tonight but we had our opportunities. We were able to get guys on base but just couldn’t get the big one,” said head coach Lindsey Stribble.
The Rebels will now wait for the winner of the Brashier Middle College Charter and Fairfield Central game to decided who they will face in an elimination game on Saturday, May 9.
“I told my guys to stay in the fight. I have had teams that won two on Monday and had teams that loss two on Monday. We have to just be ready to go and if you are ready to go and you believe in yourself then you give yourself a chance. That’s all there is to it,” said Stribble.
Leave a Reply