BE swings into Lower State championship

Bishop England punched its ticket into the AAA Lower State championship round with an 11-1 win over Lake City Saturday on Daniel Island. The Bishops, winners of 11 straight, will host the winner of Monday’s game between Aynor and Lake City on Wednesday for the Lower State title and a bid into the state championship series. Bishop England must lose twice Wednesday to be eliminated. “It seems like we always kind of figure things out right as playoffs come around,” Bishops pitcher Gregory Sanders said last week. “We're hitting the ball better, and our pitching has been really great recently. Our pitching has kept us in a lot of close games, and the success on that side of the ball seems like it's starting to carry over to the offensive side too.” Bishop England rang up 12 hits against Lake City in just six innings as the game was cut short by the 10-run rule. Sanders hit 2 for 3 with three RBIs and a run scored. Geoffrey Gilbert went 3 for 3 with an RBI and two runs scored, and Chris Dengler drove in three RBIs and scored two runs. Gilbert allowed just three hits and a walk while striking out seven through the first four innings. Matthew McManus didn’t allow a hit, just one walk, and struck out four through the final two innings. Dengler drove in the Bishops’ first run with an RBI single in the first inning and then plated two more with a double in the third. Sanders followed with his own two-run double and later scored on a passed ball. Ryan Gaffney then scored on a passed ball later in the same at-bat to open a 7-0 Bishops advantage. Molik Brown landed Lake City’s lone run with a lead-off home run in the fourth. McManus answered with the Bishops’ second home run of the season in the fifth. Bishop England reached on infield errors in its first two at-bats of the sixth. Gilbert then cashed in with an RBI double. Sanders followed with an RBI single and Robert Yanchik ended the game in the next at-bat with a single to score Gilbert. Bishop England last won its first two games of the Lower State bracket in 2013. The Bishops fell to Chesnee in three games in the AA state championship series that season.

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Bishop England High School Athletics

BE SWINGS INTO LOWER STATE CHAMPIONSHIP

FRANKIE MANSFIELD

Moultrie News | 5/8/2017

PHOTO CREDIT: Frankie Mansfield