For the first time since the Columbia Wildcats reached the South State semifinals in 2015, they put their last two district contests behind them and won a playoff series.
It took just two games to deposit Choctaw Central in a sweep, and now the 18-6 Wildcats turn their attention to St. Andrew’s Episcopal (25-5), which is highly regarded as one of the top 3A teams in South State.
“It’s a completely different atmosphere. They can pull kids from a lot of different locations, which is kind of tough, but we’re used to it,” head coach Greg Owen said. “We’ve been battling schools for so long like that, and we just take it in stride.”
The Wildcats raced out to a comfortable lead in Game 1 Friday before some pickoff attempts went awry both offensively and defensively and let Choctaw Central fight its way back into the game. But a six-run fifth inning allowed the Wildcats to seize back the momentum and cruise to a 13-8 home win.
“We got things going good early and hit the ball well. Then we gave up some runs I didn’t expect, but we were able to score enough so it turned out OK for us,” Owen said. “I didn’t think we played very well (overall) in Game 1. We made some mental mistakes and some errors.”
Harrison Miller put Columbia on the board in the first with a sacrifice fly, then the Wildcats hung a three-spot in the second. Cannon Mock led off with a hard-hit double down the first base line before Aiden Singley reached on a bunt single. Grady Lucas then ripped an RBI single, Jonathan Turnage plated another run on a sacrifice bunt and the third run of the inning came on a fielder’s choice to make it 4-0.
After the Warriors captured a 6-5 lead heading into the bottom of the fifth, Singley tied with an RBI single to center. With the bases loaded and the infield drawn in Lucas singled between shortstop and third to plate two runs. Then Trey Hobgood and Miller connected for RBI singles, and Cole Pearson scored on a passed ball. Hobgood gave the Wildcats two more insurance runs in the sixth on a single, and Singley closed the door in the seventh on the mound.
Game 2 Saturday morning in Philadelphia was a much different story as the Wildcats dominated from beginning to end with an 11-0 win to sweep the series.
“We came out in Game 2 and faced their ace (Draven Cotton) at their place — their No. 1 from the left side — and I think we had a really good approach against him. We were very successful against him, cut down the base running mistakes and played well defensively,” Owen said. “Now we’re rolling on into Round 2.”
The Saints feature an extremely deep lineup with every starter batting above .300, five of which are above .400, and seven different players have hit home runs, though none have hit more than two.
“They have a lineup that will be fundamentally sound and good 1-through-9. Coach (Mark) Fanning does a good job with them,” Owen said. “In the past we’ve played them through the years a couple of times, but we’ve never played them at home. It will be fun to get to play them at home this time.”
St. Andrew’s also has a number of good arms both in the rotation and in the bullpen with a collective ERA of just 1.95, which closely resembles the Wildcats themselves.
“We’re excited to be a part of a really competitive series. If you look at it, I think our teams are a lot like each other really with who they have beat and who we have beat and strength of hitting,” Owen said. “We match up well.”
Pictured Above: Columbia pitcher Cole Pearson throws a strike against Choctaw Central. | Photo by Joshua Campbell
