Carolina Forest baseball finally knocks off Sumter
Jack Jolly said he “stopped counting” losses to Sumter.
The only coach in Carolina Forest history can finally put a victory into the series between two of the biggest schools in the state.
The Panthers defeated Sumter 4-1 Thursday night at the Ripken Experience in a game that needed two extra days to be played due to weather delays. When it finally took place, Carolina Forest matched the Gamecocks’ small-ball efforts to tie the game and then ultimately won it with a pair of key hits in the bottom of the sixth.
The performance notched the second major milestone for the program this season after Jolly reached 400 career wins last month.
“We’ve had close games with them. We’ve had a lot of opportunities, but we’ve never found a way to get it done like we did tonight,” Jolly said. “One year we lost to them four times.”
The first-ever win against Sumter has as much relevance to this year as it does historically. The Panthers (12-8 overall, 5-2 Region VI-AAAA) are now in sole possession of second place in the division.
If that holds, the team will earn its first home playoff game since the 2011 season, when Carolina Forest made a run to the Class AAAA Lower State tournament. That postseason trek was ended, in part, via a loss to Sumter.
On Thursday night, however, the Panthers did what the Gamecocks have done to them so many times.
After Sumter took a 1-0 lead in the third – courtesy of an error and two sacrifice bunts – Carolina Forest evened it up in the fifth with a Patrick Orlando sacrifice bunt that brought home Jared Lembcke.
The next inning, Dylan Robert’s single past Sumter first baseman Brandon Spittle brought home two more. The next batter, Lembcke, scored Roberts with a triple. Jakob Frishmuth then got a pair of ground balls, one of which turned into a double play, to seal the victory.
“It’s always been a goal,” Roberts said of defeating Sumter. “But I never knew it would be this sweet when it came.”
The Panthers won’t have much time to revel in the win.
They’ll turn around Friday and play Socastee, a team that has yet to lose in region play. A Braves win all but clinches the region for coach Curtis Hudson’s team.
A win would be equally huge for Carolina Forest, which is hoping to get at least some home-field advantage come playoff time via a top-two region finish.
“They remember last year when we had to go on the road to Dutch Fork and Ashley Ridge in the playoffs,” Jolly said. “Hopefully we can keep it going and get a home playoff game.”
Sumter | 001 | 000 | 0 | — | 1 | 3 | 1 |
Carolina Forest | 000 | 013 | x | — | 4 | 3 | 2 |
▪ W - Jakob Frishmuth. L - Chris Crawford. Top hitters - Sumter: Domnic Brumlee 1-2, BB, Run; Javon Martin 1-3, Ryan Moore 1-3, 2B. Carolina Forest: Cameron Cauble 1-3, 2 SB, Run; Dylan Roberts 1-3, 2 RBI, Run; Jared Lembcke 1-2, 3B, BB, RBI.
▪ Records: Sumter 8-8, 4-3 Region VI-AAAA; Carolina Forest 12-8, 5-2.
Contact IAN GUERIN at ian@ianguerin.com.
This story was originally published April 16, 2015 at 10:06 PM with the headline "Carolina Forest baseball finally knocks off Sumter."