Most area baseball, softball playoff matchups set

It would be hard to argue that any local team on the diamond is heading into the playoffs with more momentum than Aynor softball.

The Blue Jackets won their final four region games by a combined score of 66-2. They picked up a 26-0 win over Mullins and a 21-0 win over playoff-bound Loris in the process. However, the 9-2 and 10-0 victories over perennial region title contenders Dillon and Waccamaw, respectively, may have been the biggest cue this team is ready to make a run in the postseason.

“I think we have a very, very good chance of winning the Lower State,” Aynor coach Sandie Jones. “If the girls keep their head on and stay confident in what they’re doing, we have a very good chance of going far in the playoffs.”

Jones went as far as to say that her Blue Jackets squad should be considered one of the favorites, if for no other reason that it just won a region that includes both Waccamaw and Dillon. One of those two teams have won the Lower State title five of the last six years, with Dillon winning the 2014 Class AA state championship and the Warriors doing so in 2010.

For Aynor, though, its standing to start the playoffs is new territory. Jones believes this is the first region title the Blue Jackets have won since 1990, when the school was still a Class A program. They did win a district championship as a No. 2 seed in 2012.

This time around, Aynor will open at home Thursday against Lake Marion. And like some of their region games, the Blue Jackets could turn a playoff game or two into blowouts.

After all, only one of those four games in the most recent stretch went the full seven innings.

“To be honest with you, I can’t stop my girls from playing,” Jones said. “We can stop them from stealing bases and going on passed balls. We’re hitting the ball the really, really well right now.”

Worth noting is that those four victories came at home, which is where Aynor will be throughout the district playoffs as long as it continues to win.

Playoff schedule

Barring scheduling or travel conflicts or rainouts, the first-round games for Classes AAAA, AA and A will be played on Thursday while Class AAA games will be Friday.

All district playoffs are double elimination, with second-round and loser’s brackets games typically played at the home site of the higher seed. Complete brackets are expected to be posted at SCHSL.org by Tuesday or Wednesday, depending on final region standings and submissions around the state.

Wait and see

Georgetown and North Myrtle Beach baseball won’t find out their first-round opponents until late Monday night.

In Region V-AAA, Gilbert and Airport have a one-game playoff at a neutral site to determine that region title. The winner will host North Myrtle Beach on Friday, while the Gilbert-Airport loser will have a home game against Georgetown.

The other two playoff teams from Region VII-AAA, Myrtle Beach and St. James, already know their first-round opponents in the district playoffs. The region champion Seahawks will face Aiken. St. James, which finished second, will host Swansea.

The only other area team still awaiting its first-round opponent was Carolina Forest softball. The Panthers finished second in Region VI-AAAA and will be at home on Thursday against the third-place team from Region V-AAAA.

Two hitting streaks alive and well

A pair area softball standouts are rolling 21-game hitting streaks through Friday night’s games.

Carolina Forest second baseman Cheyenne MacKenna and St. James catcher Noel Cassidy each reached that number in victories. For each, that includes every game this season. For MacKenna, her streak extends to the final two games of the 2014 season.

MacKenna and her Carolina Forest teammates will be at home on Thursday against an opponent to be determined. Cassidy and St. James will be head to Midland Valley, the No. 2 team from Region V-AAA.

This story was originally published April 25, 2015 at 5:21 PM with the headline "Most area baseball, softball playoff matchups set."