HS baseball playoff tracker: 3 Rock Hill-area teams advance to Upper State brackets

The Fort Mill Yellow Jackets, the Lewisville Lions and the Andrew Jackson Volunteers earned District titles in baseball on Monday and will begin play in the Upper State championships on Thursday.

Here’s what you need to know.

Fort Mill clinches district with win over Dorman

Fort Mill took a 5-0 lead after one inning and held off a Dorman comeback attempt to register a 10-7 victory over the Cavaliers in the 5A District 2 title game at Fort Mill.

The five-run outburst in the bottom of the first was capped with a grand slam home run by Brent Laughter. Dorman countered with three in the second and two more in the third to tie the game at 5-5.

The Jackets responded in the home half of the third. Carter Blankenship’s run-scoring double gave Fort Mill a 6-5 advantage.

Fort Mill added four more in the fourth. A single, a walk, and a Dorman error loaded the bases with no one out. Scott Young delivered a two-run single, and Laughter followed moments later with a two-run single. That gave the Jackets a 10-5 lead.

Dorman plated two in the sixth to cut the deficit to 10-7. The Cavaliers threatened in the seventh. They loaded the bases, but could not score.

Laughter led the Fort Mill attack with two hits and six RBI. Young added a pair of hits and drove in two runs, while Dylan Schaefer contributed a pair of hits to the nine-hit attack.

Jaeger Pankowski picked up the win for Fort Mill. He worked five innings and struck out three. Nick Kriese pitched the final two frames and earned a save. He struck out three.

The Yellow Jackets will open the Upper State playoffs on Thursday when they take their 21-7 record on the road against Boiling Springs — a team which emerged out of a tough district bracket field that included Northwestern.

Lewisville plays for 1A Upper State title

Lewisville pounded out a dozen hits and routed the Ware Shoals Wolverines 14-1 to claim the 1A District 3 championship in Richburg Monday afternoon.

The Lions scored nine runs in the first frame, added two more in both the second and third and one in the fourth to complete the rout.

Lewisville sent 15 batters to the plate in the first inning and got seven hits. They also took advantage of a pair of hit batters, and a Ware Shoals error to take the big early lead.

Luis Rosa-Rosa led the Lions with a pair of hits and three RBI. Tristen Haught and Xander Vanover both added two hits and drove in two runs. Seth Morrow contributed a pair of hits and knocked in one run, while KJ Hemphill also got two hits. Trey Smith added a hit and drove in four runs.

Joaquan Howze pitched a complete game and got the victory. He scattered three hits, struck out five and walked only two.

The Lions are now 14-14 on the year. They play at Whitmire in the Upper State playoffs beginning on Thursday.

Andrew Jackson hopes to make it back to 2A state championship

In 2A, the Andrew Jackson Volunteers pounded Timberland 12-0 to claim the District 8 title. Jackson Madden pitched a perfect game to lead the Vols to the win. They will take a record of 27-1 to the first round of the playoffs on Thursday, when they will play at home against Woodland.

The Volunteers hope to return to the 2A state championship series — where they were last year before losing to Legion Collegiate in three games.

What else to know

There were four other championship games involving area teams on Monday.

In 5A the TL Hanna Yellow Jackets scored twice in the bottom of the seventh and edged the Clover Blue Eagles 3-2 to earn the District 3 title. Clover’s season ended with a mark of 26-4.

In other 5A action the Blythewood Bengals tallied five times in the bottom of third to take a 7-1 lead and moved on from there to take an 8-1 victory over the Nation Ford Falcons in the District 4 championship. The loss ended the Falcons’ season with a mark of 8-18.

In 4A the Laurens Raiders scored three runs in the second inning and made it stand up for a 3-2 win over the Catawba Ridge Copperheads in the District 3 championship at Laurens. The loss ended the campaign for the Copperheads with a record of 22-8.

In other 4A play the Eastside Eagles defeated the Indian Land Warriors 11-1 to win the District 4 championship at Taylors. The loss ended the year for the Warriors with a mark of 17-13.