Ben Lippen baseball bounces back, forces deciding game in SCISA championship series
The Ben Lippen baseball team got a big third inning and another stellar pitching performance Tuesday from Cory Arthur to keep its season alive.
The Falcons scored six runs in the third inning on the way to a 9-3 win over Laurence Manning to even the best-of-three SCISA Class 3A championship series. The deciding game will be 7 p.m. Thursday at Riley Park in Sumter.
Ben Lippen is looking for its first state championship since 2008.
“I’m a little speechless,” Ben Lippen coach Brian Larsen said. “We knew they would come out and fight. That’s who they’ve been all year long. … We just fought and did what I expected them to do. We went out there, continued to play hard and continued to believe in ourselves.
“We don’t take it for granted. We knew it would be hard and we know Thursday would be extremely hard. But we are looking forward to it.”
Larsen challenged his guys after the 12-2 loss in the series opener Monday. He wasn’t worried about how they would respond because they have performed well under pressure all season.
Larsen also had confidence in starting pitcher Cory Arthur, the team’s ace. Arthur delivered a gem, pitching a complete game and allowing two earned runs on three hits while striking out nine and walking two.
“Usually that first pitch, I am nervous,” Arthur said. “But after that first pitch, I just locked in, enjoyed the game and gave us a chance to go win the ballgame.
“The whole season we have had to bounce back. … We played with a chip on our shoulder all year.”
The Falcons gave Arthur plenty of run support in the third inning. Trailing 2-1, Ben Lippen scored six runs to take a 7-2 lead. Bo Morris and Josh Kull had the big hits in the third. Morris had a two-run double to make 4-2 and sent the standing-room only crowd into a frenzy.
Kull added a two-run single later in the inning to make it 7-2. Jack Suber added two hits and an RBI for the Falcons.
“Tonight, we played like we have been playing in the postseason,” Larsen said. “We got to clean up some mistakes for Thursday, but we are a good baseball team and say that very humbly. But so is Laurence Manning, and Thursday will be a battle.
SCISA Class A Baseball
Andrew Jackson won its first state title since 1999 with a 7-1 win over Richard Winn to sweep the best-of-three series.
Landen Johnson was 2-for-4 with a homer and an RBI and also picked up the win for AJA. Sam Felix was 3-for-4 with two RBIs.
Austin Lancaster led RW with two hits. The Eagles finished the season at 17-2-1.
This story was originally published May 17, 2022 at 10:46 PM.
