Orlando, Carolina Forest baseball win playoff opener in pitcher’s duel

The Lexington baseball team’s best chance Thursday came as it loaded the bases on Carolina Forest starter Patrick Orlando with nobody out in the fourth inning.

But Orlando has been in that situation multiple times this year and was confident he could control the damage.

The ace pitcher didn’t escape the inning unscathed as he allowed one run to cross in the frame, but Orlando and the Panthers did just enough as they held off the Wildcats the rest of the way for a 2-1 victory in the first round of the Class AAAA state playoffs.

“I’ve been in just as bad situations coming in with bases loaded in relief,” Orlando said. “So I’m basically used to it. I knew our team would get out of it because we’ve done it plenty of times this season.”

Brice Kirven and Justin Bowers each hit singles to left field and Trey Watts reached on an error to load the bases with no outs in the fourth inning. David Jacobs then hit an RBI single to cut Lexington’s deficit to one run but Carolina Forest left fielder Brendan Calvert made a big play as he threw out Tyler Schadewald at home to prevent the tying run from crossing.

Orlando then got a strikeout and forced a ground out to end the inning with the lead still intact.

“[Orlando] showed a lot of guts, especially in the inning where they put three on with no outs,” Panthers coach Jack Jolly said. “That was a huge play with Calvert throwing the runner out for the first out. Then [Orlando] settled down and got us out of the inning; that was probably the difference in the game right there.”

After giving up that run in the fourth inning, Orlando allowed just one hit the rest of the way as he picked up the win.

“I was just doing what I’ve been doing this whole season: let them hit balls,” Orlando said. “I got a couple of strikeouts here and there but without my team behind me to make the plays, that game doesn’t mean a thing to me.”

Orlando gave up just one run on five hits and one walk and also struck out six in seven innings of work. Jolly has relied on Orlando night in and night out and the pitcher hasn’t disappointed.

“He pitches with a lot of guts and he has a huge heart,” Jolly said. “He can throw three pitches for strikes and he was doing that tonight; he really kept them off-balance. But he’s such a competitor and we feel like every time he’s on the mound we have a chance to win.”

But Lexington had a weapon of its own. Starter Cordes Baker boasted a 0.95 ERA with 54 strikeouts in 38 innings pitched entering Thursday, and Jolly knew a dogfight was in store with Baker on the mound.

“Lexington is well-coached and we knew coming in that [Baker] is one of the best pitchers in the state,” Jolly said. “His ball barrels in on the right-handers and sweeps away on the lefties so it’s very difficult. If you put a good pitcher like that on a well-coached team, you’re going to have a battle on your hands. We feel very fortunate to win the game against Lexington.”

Meanwhile, the Panthers scored early on to set the tone Thursday. Dylan Roberts hit an RBI groundout to drive in Joey Lewandowski in the first inning as the Panthers took a quick 1-0 lead. Then, after Hunter Baiden and Jakob Frishmuth each hit one-out singles in the third, Baiden scored on a throwing error to give Carolina Forest a 2-0 advantage, which proved to be all the Panthers would need as Orlando finished out the Wildcats on the mound.

“It’s good to be on the winning side of a close game and when you get home-field advantage, you need to win those,” Jolly said. “We knew [Baker] was going to be very, very tough and he was. Fortunately we scratched a couple across early and Patrick Orlando was just unbelievable tonight.”

No. 1 James Island came back to beat No. 4 Spring Valley on a walk-off 5-4 Thursday, and the Panthers’ home-field advantage was short lived as they will have to travel to play James Island on Saturday. However, should Carolina Forest win on Saturday, it will return home to host a best-of-two series on Wednesday.

“Going on the road for the first two games last year was difficult,” said Jolly, whose team was eliminated from the Class AAAA playoffs last season after losses to Dutch Fork and Ashley Ridge. “We’re feeling comfortable at home and if we win [at James Island], we’ll definitely host and somebody will have to try and beat us twice.”

Orlando has a message for the team he’ll see on Saturday.

“James Island, we’re coming,” he said.

This story was originally published April 30, 2015 at 10:59 PM with the headline "Orlando, Carolina Forest baseball win playoff opener in pitcher’s duel."