WINNSBORO – The Fairfield Griffins hosted the Chester Cyclones on Friday night in a Region 4-3A contest that went down to the wire, and ended in walk-off fashion. CJ Simmons had a pivotal sac-fly in the bottom of the seventh that allowed to Taylor Truesdale to score final run in the Griffins’ 11-10 victory. Montavious Thompson had a huge four-RBI night in the nail biter of a win.
Luke Wright put a two-run shot over the left field in the first inning, and Chester jumped out to a 2-0 lead. The lead was short-lived. In the bottom of the inning, the Griffins plated four. Three runs scored on errors, and Keion Trapp knocked in a run.
The furious offensive pace continued into the second inning. Chester’s two-run deficit was quickly erased after the Cyclones pumped out for runs. Wright singled to left field to score one. Jordan Price doubled in a couple more runs, and later in the inning Price was walked home.
Fairfield knotted the game back in the bottom of the frame. Thompson picked up the first of his four RBIS to get Fairfield back within one, and CJ Simmons stole home to tie the game up.
A passed ball cost the Griffins the lead in the top of the third, but Chazzi Jones tied things back with an RBI double in the bottom of the frame. After Jones’ RBI double, Thompson came back up to the plate and knocked in two mores run with a double.
The Griffins stretched their lead out to 10-7 in the bottom of the fifth after Truesdale scored on a bad throw. A sixth inning error cost the Griffins a run, and another error later in the inning cost them two more runs and the lead.
Pitching took over until the bottom of the seventh. Truesdale led off the final inning for the Griffins and singled to left field. Sha’Kien Holmes put down a sacrifice bunt on the next at bat, and following that Jones was hit by a pitch. Thompson singled to load the bases up with one out, and Simmons hoisted a ball deep enough to left field for Taylor to tag up and score from third and send the Cyclones back to Chester with a loss.
Tuesday night the two teams were back in opposing dugouts in Chester. The Griffins managed to put the Cyclones away more easily in their second meeting, 11-5.
Despite a scoreless first inning for both teams, the Griffins turned out five runs in the second and five in the third to take a 10-0 lead heading into the fourth.
Chester managed four runs in the fourth and one in the sixth. Fairfield Central added one more in the seventh and contained the Cyclones in the bottom of the frame to take the win.
Jacob McManus faced 28 batters in his 6.1 innings from the mound, allowing five runs on four hits, three walks, and 13 strikeouts. Holmes closed out the seventh inning, facing three batters and striking out two.
Holmes went 3-3 with two RBIs and a walk. McManus went 3-4, including a double and a walk. Jones and Simmons each added a double, Jones pulled one RBI and Simmons four. Thompson had three RBIs.
Holmes added two more stolen bases to his collection, and Thompson and Truesdale picked up one apiece.
The wins put the Griffins at 8-4 on the season. They faced cross-town rival Richard Winn on Wednesday and took home a 14-1 win. The Griffins will play host to conference opponent Indian Land on Friday at 6:30.
FCHS: 4-2-3-0-1-0-1-11-11-8
CHS: 2-4-1-0-0-3-10-5-5
Pitching: Atkinson, 2.2 IP, 5H, 9R, 4ER, 3K, 5BB. Preston Kirby, 4IP, 5H, 2R, 2ER, 2K, 2BB (CHS). Jacob McManus 2 IP, 3H, 6R, 5ER, 3K, 6BB. Chris Simmons, 5 IP, 3H, 4R, 11K, 3BB.
Hitting: 1B – Wright, Dixon (CHS). Jones, Thompson (2), Trapp, Bagley, Kurtz, Truesdale (FCHS). 2B – Odell, Price, Dixon (CHS). Thompson, Jones (FCHS). HR – Dixon (CHS).
FCHS: 0-5-5-0-0-0-1-11-11-4
CHS: 0-0-0-4-0-1-0-5-5-0
Pitching: McAbee, 1.1 IP, 3H, 5R, 5ER, 2K, 4BB. Wallace, 1.1 IP, 3H, 5R, 5ER, 1K, 4BB. Davis, 4.1 IP, 5H, 1R, 1ER, 3K, 1BB (CHS). McManus, 6.1IP, 4H, 5R, 1ER, 13K, 3BB. Holmes, 0.2IP, 1H, 0R, 0ER, 2K, 0BB (FCHS).
Hitting: 1B – Dixon, Kirby, Jackson, Atkinson (CHS). Jones, McManus (2), Jackson, Truesdale, Holmes (3) (FCHS). 2B- Jones, McManus, Simmons (FCHS).
