Fairfield Central’s Stanley McManus slides into the tag at third against Keenan Tuesday. (Photo/Ross Burton)
WINNSBORO – The Fairfield Central Griffins hosted the Raiders of Keenan High School, each school tied for the final playoff berth. One stays, one goes. Fairfield Central led the game all the way, but toward the end, Keenan made things interesting. Ultimately, The Griffins prevailed by a score of 8-7.
Fairfield Central had a healthy four-run lead going into the fourth inning. Keenan stranded players on all three bases in the previous inning, and were about to do it again, when with two outs, the Keenan batter hit a high pop up, with plenty of time to get under it for the easy out to retire the side. Unfortunately, the Griffin player lost his balance and the ball hit the ground. The next batter was Jaquez Geter, who drove the ball to the left field fence, batting in three runs and with himself safe on third. Geter’s hit and three RBI’s made it a one-run game, 5-4 Griffins.
After scoring three runs in the fifth, two on wild pitches, and neither team scoring in the sixth, it looked like it was in the bag for Fairfield Central. Then the momentum swung Keenan’s way when Geter hit another long ball, this time a two-run homer.
The next batter was hit by a pitch, putting the tying run on first base. The next up got a single, representing the winning run. A good clean hit would at least tie things up. Unfortunately, with two outs, the last batter struck out, sending Fairfield Central into the playoffs, 8-7. The winning pitcher was Lane Floyd, and the losing pitcher was Geter.
