White Knoll eliminates Blythewood in 5A playoffs
Jacob Jeffcoat knew what was at stake Thursday night when he stepped on the mound in White Knoll’s Class 5A, District VII elimination game against region foe Blythewood. If the senior wanted to extend his season, he was going to have to provide a strong effort.
He did that and more as he tossed a complete-game three-hitter to propel the Timberwolves to a 4-1 victory. White Knoll advances to play at Summerville on Saturday.
“It was nice to see him go out and do that,” White Knoll coach Charles Assey said. “He was a freshman when I got here, and as a senior, he’s the epitome of everything I want.”
Jeffcoat, a Newberry signee, threw a lot of off-speed pitches that kept the Bengals off balance. He pitched out of jams in the third and fourth innings.
“My goal was to get them to swing the bat and let my defense work,” Jeffcoat said. “My changeup and curve ball were working pretty good and that got a lot of ground-ball outs.”
The only baserunner Jeffcoat allowed in the final three innings came on a Timberwolves error. He struck out three, walked three and hit three batters.
“We battled but didn’t have enough,” Blythewood coach Banks Faulkner said. “Tip your hat to (Jeffcoat). He’s a good senior pitcher. He battled and worked himself out of jams.”
White Knoll (15-10) came in on an eight-game losing streak but got on top early and used small ball to score all four runs.
They broke on top in the first with only one ball leaving the infield. Ryan Harbin reached on an infield single and Parker Wieder followed with a high bouncer over third to put runners at second and third.
A walk loaded the bases, and Jacob Horton followed with a slow dribbler that stayed fair in front of first to score Harbin.
The Timberwolves added two more in the second. Justin Riley walked and was sacrificed to second. Tanner Lane reached on an error and Riley scored when the ball went into the dugout on the errant throw to first.
Lane then scored from second on a groundout to second. He never hesitated rounding third and scored easily.
W: Jacob Jeffcoat. L: Daniel Zippel. Hitters: WK: Ryan Harbin 2-3, Parker Wieder 2-3. B: Jordan Flemming 2-3, RBI.
This story was originally published April 27, 2017 at 10:20 PM with the headline "White Knoll eliminates Blythewood in 5A playoffs."