Fort Mill baseball sweeps Clover to get back to .500

After a rough first week in Region IV play, the Fort Mill baseball team bounced back with a sweep of the Clover Blue Eagles to even its region record at 3-3.

Fort Mill was swept by Northwestern to open region play, but found the offense it needed against Clover. The Jackets won game one 9-2, game two 11-1 and game three 7-4 to get back to .500 in the region.

The Jackets had strong performances at the plate in all three games. In the opening game against Clover, Fort Mill had 10 hits and used a five-run fifth inning to pull away in the win. Logan Stone went five and two-third innings on the mound for the Jackets allowing just four hits and two runs, while striking out four and walking three.

Defensively, Fort Mill did struggle some with four errors in the game.

At the plate, Fort Mill was led by Bartow Keller, who went 3-3 with two runs scored. Justin Kerosetz also went 2-3 with three RBI and JT Marr went 2-4 as well for the Jackets.

The second game of the series was much like the first with Fort Mill’s bats scattering a dozen hits in the 11-1 win. The Jackets used two big innings again to pull away from Clover. Fort Mill scored four runs in the second inning to go up 5-0 and then added six runs in the sixth inning to go up 11-0. This time around, the Jackets were flawless in the field with no errors, while it was Clover that made four miscues.

On the mound, Mikey Tepper allowed just two hits for Clover in getting the win. Keller again had three hits for the Jackets, driving in a couple of runs, and Stone drove in three RBIs in the win.

Game three of the series saw both teams struggle in the field defensively, but timely hitting by Griffin Reddeck, who went 2-4 with two RBI, as well as two hits from Keller and Stone, allowed Fort Mill to come away with the win.

On the mound, Drew Hartman got the start, but it was Zack McDonald who picked up the win going four inning allowing three hits, but no runs while striking out four Blue Eagle batters. Both teams had 10 hits in the game.

Like in previous games, Fort Mill started out quickly, but game three was a little different as Clover would battle back several times to tie the game. However, the Jackets again used a big inning to pull away from the Blue Eagles scoring three runs in the fifth inning to take what would be the final 7-4 score.

Up next for Fort Mill are non-region games against Blythewood and Chester. Their game against Chester March 28 will be there senior night for the team. After that they will play in the Wheels Spring Break tournament over spring break week.

This story was originally published March 25, 2018 at 8:52 PM with the headline "Fort Mill baseball sweeps Clover to get back to .500."