By Thomas Grant Jr.
On Wednesday, Dutch Fork baseball faced J.L. Mann in the Class 5A Division I playoffs.
After winning the deciding game of the Best-of-Three series against Clover, the Silver Foxes had a quick turnaround with a District 1 opening game against top seed Dorman.
The Cavaliers scored five runs in the Bottom 6th to take a 5-1 lead. Dutch Fork capitalized off two walks, an error and hit batsman for four runs to force extra innings.
Carter Nash’s walkoff RBI single in the Bottom 10th gave Dorman the 6-5 victory.
Dutch Fork then faced an elimination game Monday at J.F. Byrnes. It jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the Top 1st, only for the Rebels to get within a run in the bottom half of the inning.
Starter Chase Ellis and reliever Gavin Graham did not allow a run over the final six innings. The Silver Foxes’ Reece Booner was responsible for the final two runs in the 5-2 victory on an RBI single and scoring on a wild pitch.
The Silver Foxes looked to stay alive with a win over the Patriots. This would then set up a district final matchup Friday versus Dorman with Dutch Fork needing two wins to reach the Upper State playoffs.
