Northwestern beats Byrnes to keep season alive, plus all Rock Hill-area playoff updates

The only bit of drama in Thursday night’s win-or-go-home playoff game in Rock Hill came in the top of the seventh inning, with no outs and a runner on first and the tying Byrnes run at the plate.

And all that drama was undone by one line drive.

Northwestern starting pitcher Owen Sarna worked from the stretch and fired a low-and-away fastball. His opposing batter then cranked a line drive right back to the mound — and Sarna, without much time to think, made the play of the game: He moved his head out of the way, caught the ball on the fly and then threw a Byrnes baserunner out at first before he could return to the bag for a double play.

In one play that lasted less than five seconds, Byrnes’ offensive momentum — and the team’s comeback hopes — all but evaporated.

And then, two Sarna pitches later, the Trojans walked off their home field in Rock Hill with a 3-1 win and their state championship dreams still intact. They’ll travel to JL Mann on Saturday — needing two more consecutive wins (on Saturday and then Monday) to move on to the 5A Upper State championship bracket next week.

“I told them before the game, ‘We gotta feel like we’re boxers,’” Northwestern head coach Ryan Hunt said postgame. “And what a boxer does, if your back is against the wall, you gotta come out swinging. And I think we did that. We got out to an early lead in the first and just kept going.

“We knew that if we could just give Owen a lead and scratch out a few runs, he’d keep us in the game.”

Sarna made the game-sealing play by relying on his infielder instincts. But his pitching was what made Thursday night a mostly drama-free affair.

The junior right-handed pitcher struck out two and allowed only four hits and one earned run in seven innings. Thursday marked the second time in as many starts that Sarna pitched a complete game that ended in a victory.

“It feels great,” Sarna told The Herald postgame. “I couldn’t have done it without my teammates.”

The Trojans scored one run in the first inning and never trailed after that. The first score came thanks to a lead-off double by Michael Gibson, who then was sent home by an Andrew Sands single.

More Trojan runs came in the bottom of the third: Ethan Darden singled to center field to drive in Jack Burton, and then, after some adept baserunning, Sarna slapped a single to center field to send in Darden to make the game 3-0.

“I guess he just doesn’t want to stop swinging the bat,” Hunt said of Darden, his senior Clemson signee and left-handed ace whose made a name for himself on the mound and in the batter’s box in his high school career. Hunt added, “I think he had a good approach tonight, wasn’t pulling off things. He used the middle, which is what we’re trying to get him to do, and he did. And we’re glad he barreled some balls tonight.”

Byrnes made a few plays down the stretch to keep the team in the game. One was a solo home run in the top of the fourth by Rebel shortstop Kaden Roach to cut the game to 3-1. Another was a one-out, 4-6-3 double play in the bottom of the fourth with the bases loaded to end what could’ve been a game-sealing inning.

But in the end, Northwestern proved too tough.

When asked if he thinks his team plays its best when the best is demanded — when, say, his teammates’ backs are against the ropes in a boxing ring — Sarna smiled.

“Yes,” he said. “We don’t wanna be done. We’re going for state.”

Northwestern isn’t the only high school baseball or softball team from York, Chester and Lancaster counties still in the state championship hunt. Here’s where the rest of the teams in The Herald’s coverage area stand.

Other Rock Hill-area baseball scores

Note: District championships (the first round of the state playoffs) are double-elimination brackets.

Tuesday

5A District 1

Boiling Springs 3, Northwestern 0

5A District 3

Rock Hill 2, Clover 1

5A District 4

Blythewood 10, Nation Ford 0

4A District 1

AC Flora 9, South Pointe 3

4A District 2

Dreher 7, York 2

4A District 3

Catawba Ridge 13, Westwood 6

4A District 4

Indian Land 3, Lugoff-Elgin 2

3A District 2

Belton-Honea Path 7, Chester 3

2A District 8

Andrew Jackson 10, Wade Hampton 1

1A District 3

Lewisville 15, Whale Branch 0

1A District 4

Whitmire 13, Great Falls 1

Wednesday

5A District 2

Fort Mill 6, Spring Valley 1

Thursday

5A District 1

Northwestern 3, Byrnes 1

5A District 2

Fort Mill 15, Dorman 0

5A District 3

Clover 9, Spartanburg 3

TL Hanna 11, Rock Hill 7

5A District 4

Nation Ford 13, Riverside 3

4A District 1

Easley 7, South Pointe 3

4A District 2

York 8, Travelers Rest 5

4A District 3

Laurens 5, Catawba Ridge 2

4A District 4

Eastside 5, Indian Land 2

3A District 2

Chester 5, Union County 4

2A District 8

Andrew Jackson 15, Timberland 0

1A District 3

Lewisville 8, Ware Shoals 0

1A District 4

Great Falls 8, North 7

Saturday

5A District 1

JL Mann 8, Northwestern 7

5A District 3

Clover 5, Rock Hill 1

5A District 4

Nation Ford 2, Hillcrest 1

4A District 2

Dreher 5, York 4

4A District 3

Catawba Ridge 9, Westside 3

4A District 4

Indian Land 5, Lugoff-Elgin 3

3A District 2

Powdersville 13, Chester 2

1A District 4

Ridge Spring-Monetta 13, Great Falls 7

Rock Hill-area softball scores

Monday (Regular season)

Clover 6, Byrnes 0

Andrew Jackson 16, Lewisville 5

Wednesday

5A District 3

Fort Mill 9, Ridge View 0

5A District 4

Blythewood 7, Nation Ford 0

4A District 1

Lugoff-Elgin 4, Indian Land 1

4A District 2

Lancaster 7, AC Flora 1

4A District 3

Catawba Ridge 6, Westwood 0

4A District 4

York 14, Irmo 5

3A District 2

Belton-Honea Path 10, Chester 0

2A District 1

Batesburg-Leesville 7, Andrew Jackson 5

1A District 3

Lewisville 15, Military Magnet 0

1A District 4

Great Falls 10, Ware Shoals 9

Thursday

5A District 1

Clover 10, Rock Hill 0

Friday

5A District 4

Nation Ford 8, TL Hanna 7

3A District 3

Catawba Ridge 10, Westside 0

Saturday

5A District 1

Clover 4, Hillcrest 1

Rock Hill 9, Wade Hampton 7

5A District 3

Fort Mill 1, Riverside 0 (8)

4A District 1

Indian Land 11, Travelers Rest 9

4A District 2

Easley 4, Lancaster 2

4A District 4

York 15 Greer 0

3A District 2

Woodruff 6, Chester 3

1A District 3

Lewisville 16, Whitmire 2

1A District 4

Ridge Spring-Monetta 10, Great Falls 0

Playoff brackets

Check the South Carolina High School League for the latest on area matchups.

Baseball: 5A | 4A | 3A | 2A | 1A

Softball: 5A | 4A | 3A | 2A | 1A

This story was originally published May 5, 2022 at 10:43 PM.

Alex Zietlow

The Herald

Alex Zietlow writes about sports and the ways in which they intersect with life in York, Chester and Lancaster counties for The Herald, where he has been an editor and reporter since August 2019. Zietlow has won nine S.C. Press Association awards in his career, including First Place finishes in Feature Writing, Sports Enterprise Writing and Education Beat Reporting. He also received two Top-10 awards in the 2021 APSE writing contest and was nominated for the 2022 U.S. Basketball Writers Association’s Rising Star award for his coverage of the Winthrop men’s basketball team.