Hartsville baseball earns winners bracket game
Hartsville Red Foxes Daniel Parker Pitching at the start of Wednesdays game. PHOTO BY DAWSON JORDAN
Hartsville Red Fox Cam Canarella after bringing a point to Hartsville. PHOTO BY DAWSON JORDAN
The Hartsville Red Foxes Team rushing out on the field after claiming the Lower State Champion title! PHOTO BY DAWSON JORDAN
By: Don Gearhart
Cam Canarella achieved a feat that normally only occurs when throwing a perfect game no-hitter. He did not qualify for a perfect game; however, he did face the minimum number of batters in the Winners Bracket Finals of the Lower State Baseball Championship. A base hit in the second ruined any chance of a no-hitter. That runner got picked off base. An Airport base hit in the fourth had the same result and a base hit in the fifth had the runner eliminated when caught stealing. In between Canarella was perfect keeping the Eagles at bay while striking out nine batters.
Hartsville had a little more luck reaching the bases. The first runner to get aboard occurred when Garrett Parker got hit by a pitch in the second. Ryan Jordan followed with a base-on-balls but the side was retired without a runner crossing the plate.
In the third inning, base hits by Canarella and Josh Jones were not sufficient to produce runs. Parker reached on a single in the fourth but could not be advanced. In the fifth, Jackson Moore laced a two-out double and Jones walked but a strikeout ended that threat.
Parker managed another base hit in the sixth but was stranded once again. With the score knotted at 0-0, the Red Foxes started the seventh inning with a one-out single from Canarella. Moore followed with his second double that drove home the run and the walk-off win for Hartsville.
The Red Foxes now sit back and wait for the result of the Airport vs James Island game where the winner of that game will have to defeat Hartsville twice to win the Lower State Championship.
Lower State Champions
For the second time in three days the Airport Eagles travelled to Jimmy White Park with the knowledge that they would have to defeat the Red Foxes twice or go home. Neither team managed a base runner in the first inning. Airport got a leadoff walk to start the second. After a stolen base put the runner in scoring position, one out later the RBI single gave Airport a 1-0 lead. Hartsville evened the score in their half of the inning when Josh Jones led off with a single. One out later, Ryan Thompson walked and Garrett Parker singled to load the bases. Ryan Jordan’s sacrifice fly to center field was deep enough to drive in Jones with the run.
Airport reacted in the third with a base hit and walk to put runners on first and second. Daniel Parker struck out the next two batters to retire the Eagles. After Hartsville was unable to generate any offence, the score remained tied at 1-1. Airport was able to get a runner on in the fourth but went down in order in the fifth. Hartsville had no answer in the fourth but generated some two-out lightening in the fifth. Treion McFarland reached on a base hit and Cam Canarella followed with a base hit of his own. Jackson Moore walked to load the bases bringing Josh Jones to the plate. His ground ball to third was booted allowing both McFarland and Canarella to cross the plate and the Red Foxes owned a 3-1 lead.
The Eagles only managed a single base runner against reliever John Alexander over the next two innings and Hartsville wasn’t able to increase their lead. The 3-1 win earns the Red Foxes a berth in the 4A State Championship.