Catawba Ridge baseball notches huge win over York, plus all Rock Hill-area scores
You could tell that Jackson Mullen was ready.
The Catawba Ridge sophomore, on a chilly Friday night in York, entered the game to pitch in the bottom of the seventh. Bases were loaded. No outs. Region 3-4A foe York only needed two runs to complete its comeback and tie a game that felt over after the Copperheads jumped out to a 7-0 lead in the second inning — and the Cougars looked like they’d do it.
Mullen was ready, though.
And so too, it turned out, were the rest of the Copperheads.
Mullen got one York batter to fly out. He then allowed a hit — a York senior Trace Thompson line drive to left fielder Trevor Testerman, who fielded the ball well and limited York to just one score. 8-7.
Mullen then struck one out looking.
And then struck the last out swinging.
Final score: 8-7. The Copperheads had escaped.
“We have a very talented group, but talent doesn’t win ball games,” Catawba Ridge head coach Stas Swerdzewski told The Herald after the game. He was noticeably relieved and satisfied and exhausted all at once. “It’s the ability to have the guts and to want the ball when it’s hit to you. It’s the ability to have the guts and want to be able to hit in tight ball games. If something goes wrong, we have to have the guts to work out of it. And I thought the last inning was a microcosm of what we’ve been preaching.”
After the game’s final out, Catawba Ridge players stomped on the field in celebration. Some tossed their gloves in the air as if they’d just won a big playoff game.
It certainly felt like a playoff battle: York, after all, is coming off one of the best seasons in program history in 2021 and picked up right where it left off in 2022. Catawba Ridge, although only in season three, has big plans for 2022, too.
Both were preseason Top-10 teams in South Carolina Class 4A baseball. And each team picked up a win earlier in the week — which meant that the winner of Friday’s contest was the winner of the regular-season series and thus had the edge in region play.
But even if you didn’t know all that watching the game, you could tell the stakes were high. You could feel it.
“I definitely think it’s a really big win for us,” Swerdzewski said. “You know, there’s been a lot of hype about our program. And I think after this series, we have earned something.”
The Copperheads got off to a fast start Friday.
In the top of the first inning, Catawba Ridge scored four runs: Senior Trevor Testerman started the game off with a lead-off home run. Then a Lane Boutwell hit forced an error and sent in Harrison Wilson and Jonathan Barschow. And then, Jackson Mullen hit a double to drive in Boutwell from first. 4-0, Catawba Ridge.
The Copperheads had another productive inning in the top of the second. They scored three runs, all courtesy of a Wilson home run over the centerfield wall that sent in Wilson, Jake McCoy and Testerman. 7-0.
The Cougars wouldn’t quit, though. In the bottom of the second, they scored three: Landon Sexton singled to center field, which sent in Levi Comer. Then an Ashton Edington hit forced an error that sent Andrew Kinsey and Trace Thompson past home. 7-3.
Catawba Ridge scored in the top of the third and then allowed two more in the bottom of the third. Then, in the bottom of the fourth, a Ryley Stout single sent in Edington to make the game 8-6.
But then the intensity ramped up. The teams went scoreless until the bottom of the seventh and final inning — that aforementioned inning where a York comeback completion was inevitable were it not for the Copperheads’ “guts” and willingness to embrace and repel the adversity they were handed.
“At the forefront of my brain right now, my biggest thought is that was a series that was a battle between two really good teams,” Swerdzewski said, adding, “Both of our squads are in the top-10 in the state, and I think nobody deserved to lose this series because both teams just really fought hard.”
Here are all the baseball and softball scores and region standings from high school teams in York, Chester and Lancaster counties.
Other area baseball scores
Monday
Clover 7, Fort Mill 5
Blythewood 5, Northwestern 1
Rock Hill 4, Carolina Royals 3
Nation Ford 11, Gaffney 1
York 3, Catawba Ridge 2
Lancaster 7, South Pointe 2
Union County 7, Chester 5
Andrew Jackson 11, Lewisville 1
Tuesday
Blythewood 3, Northwestern 1
Rock Hill 9, Carolina 8
Nation Ford 11 , Gaffney 1
Buford 4, Indian Land 1
Andrew Jackson 16, Pageland Central 0
Lewisville 15, CA Johnson 4
McBee 8, Great Falls 0
Thursday
Clover 4, Fort Mill 0
Catawba Ridge 8, York 2
South Pointe 7, Lancaster 6
Andrew Jackson 17, Lewisville 1
Friday
Blythewood 8, Northwestern 0
Clover 2, Fort Mill 1
Gaffney 9, Nation Ford 7
Catawba Ridge 8, York 7
South Pointe 10, Lancaster 8
Chester 10, Fairfield 0
Legion Collegiate 6, Carolina Royals 2
Lewisville 22, CA Johnson 0
Region Standings
Region 3-5A - 1. Clover 3-0/10-1; 2. Nation Ford 2-1/2-4; 3. Boiling Springs 0-0/8-2; 4. Gaffney 1-2/3-6; 5. Fort Mill 0-3/6-3.
Region 4-5A - 1. Blythewood 3-0/10-1; 2. Spring Valley 3-1/5-4; 3. Northwestern 2-3/5-4; 4. Rock Hill 1-2/3-3; 5. Ridge View 0-3/0-3.
Region 3-4A - 1. Catawba Ridge 5-1/9-3; 2. York 3-3/4-7; 3. South Pointe 2-4/4-6; 4. Indian Land 1-2/.5-4; 5. Lancaster 1-2/4-6.
Region 4-3A - 1. Mid-Carolina 2-0/4-0; 2. Chester 3-1/5-5; 3. Fairfield Central 1-1/2-2; 4. Lower Richland 0-2/5-2; 5. Keenan 0-2/0-3.
Region 4-2A - 1. Andrew Jackson 1-0/9-1; 2. Chesterfield 4-1/7-2; 3. Buford 2-2/6-5; 4. North Central 1-3/1-3; 5. Cheraw 0-1/1-2; 6. Pageland Central 0-1/0-3.
Region 2-1A - 1. Lewisville 2-0/3-6; 2. McBee 1-0/2-7; 3. Great Fals 0-1/1-6; 4. CA Johnson 0-2/0-3.
Softball: Fort Mill beats Gaffney
The Fort Mill Yellow Jackets pounded out 17 hits and routed the Gaffney Indian 16-3 in a Region 3-5A game Friday night in Gaffney.
The Jackets scored twice in the first and tacked on five more in the third for a 7-0 advantage. They added three more in the fourth and two in the fifth before the Indians scored three in the home half of the sixth. Fort Mill closed the scoring with four more in the sixth.
Trista Reid led the Jackets’ offensive assault with four hits, including a pair of doubles, and she drove in four runs. Madi Drerup added three hits and drove in two, while Trinity Wall got three hits and knocked in a pair of runs.
Emma Tisdale and Sydney Spears added two hits and two RBI each to the Yellow Jackets’ attack. One of Spears’ hits was a home run.
Drerup pitched a complete game and earned the win. She allowed only two hits, while striking out 10 and walking only one.
The win improved Fort Mill to 2-0 in the region and 5-3 overall.
Other area softball scores
Monday
Blythewood 5, Nation Ford 1
Andrew Jackson 4, Marlboro County 3
Blythewood 5, Nation Ford 1
Andrew Jackson 4, Marlboro County 3
Tuesday
Fort Mill 10, Boiling Springs 4
Spring Valley 17, Northwestern 3
Blythewood 24, Rock Hill 1
Clover 2, Gaffney 1 (9)
Catawba Ridge 6, Indian Land 2
Lancaster 3, York 2 (8)
Chester 14, Fairfield Central 3
Andrew Jackson 8, North Central 0
Ridge View 13, South Pointe 8
Lewisville 11, McBee 0
Great Falls 29, Midlands Stem 4
Great Falls 19, Midlands Stem 0
Thursday
Lancaster 20, Chester 0
Legion Collegiate 8, Charlotte Christian 0
Friday
Fort Mill 16, Gaffney 3
Clover 9, Nation Ford 2
Ridge View 4, Rock Hill 3
Lancaster 10, Indian Land 0
Chester 12, Fairfield Central 4
Cheraw 17, Andrew Jackson 13
Lewisville 21, CA Johnson 0
Lewisville 20, CA Johnson 0
Region Standings
Region 3-5A - 1. Clover 2-0/6-1; 2. Fort Mill 2-0/5-3; 3. Nation Ford 1-2/6-6; 4. Gaffney 1-2/1-4; 5. Boiling Springs 0-2/2-2.
Region 4-5A - 1. Ridge View 2-0/7-0; 2. Blythewood 2-0/8-2; 3. Spring Valley 2-1/5-5; 4. Northwestern 0-2/0-3; 5. Rock Hill 0-3/3-11.
Region 3-4A - 1. Lancaster 3-0/7-2; 2. Catawba Ridge 2-0/11-1; 3. . South Pointe 0-1/0-3; 4. Indian Land 0-2/3-6; 5. York 0-2/3-2.
Region 4-3A - 1. Mid-Carolina 1-0/2-3; 2. Chester 2-1/2-3; 3. Keenan 0-0/0-0; 4. Fairfield Central 1-2/2-2; 5. Lower Richland 0-1/0-6.
Region 4-2A - 1. Andrew Jackson 2-1/8-4; 2. Cheraw 1-0/2-2; 3. Buford 0-0/4-3; 4. Pageland Central 0-1/0–5; 5. Chesterfield 0-0/0-3; 6. North Central 0-1/1-5.
Region 2-1A - 1. Lewisville 6-0/8-2; 2. Great Falls 3-2/3-2; 3. McBee 1-1/1-2; 4. CA Johnson 1-3/1-3; 5. Midlands Stem 0-5/0-5.
This story was originally published March 25, 2022 at 11:58 PM.
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