The Dillon Wildcats earned a 10-0 win over Kingstree on Thursday night in the opening round of the Class 2A District VIII baseball playoffs and earned a come-from-behind 9-7 win over Academic Magnet on Saturday to advance to the district championship.

Dillon hosted Kingstree on Thursday for two runs in the bottom of the first, three in the second, and one in the third, capping the win with four runs in the bottom of the fourth.

On the mound for the Wildcats, Rae Rae McGirt gave up one hit and two walks in two innings, striking out four. Duncan Callahan pitched two innings for just three walks with five outs, and Austin Moody pitched one inning for two outs. Kingstree’s McElveen pitched all four innings for the Jaguars, giving up 10 hits, 10 runs, seven earned runs, and three walks with two outs.

At bat for Dillon, Jon-Mitchell Carter went 2-for-3 with a double, a triple, two RBI, and one run scored; Kaleb Page went 2-for-3 with a double, two RBI, and two runs; Joseph Scott went 2-for-3 with one RBI, two stolen bases, and one run scored, also reaching on error; Patrick Herring went 1-for-2 with two RBI, one stolen base, and one run, also hitting a sacrifice fly; Duncan Callahan went 1-for-2 with a double, one RBI, one stolen base, and one run, also reaching on a walk; Rae Rae McGirt went 1-for-2 with a double and one RBI; Dekendrick Graves went 1-for-3 with a triple, one RBI, and one run; Austin Moody scored one run with a stolen base; and Omar McCollum scored two runs with two stolen bases on two walks.

For Kingstree, Chandler went 1-for-1 with a stolen base for the only hit and Alston had a fielder’s choice hit and drew a walk. McElveen drew two walks with two stolen bases and Fulton also drew a walk. The Jaguars had two errors in the effort.

On Saturday, the Wildcats hosted Academic Magnet, with the Raptors leading off with three singles four four runs in the top of the first to take the lead. Dillon’s McCollum reached on an error to open the bottom of the first, and Jon-Mitchell Carter hit a sacrifice bunt to advance McCollum to second. With one out, Patrick Herring singled, and McCollum advanced on an error to score. A grounder from Austin Moody advanced Herring to second, but Duncan Callahan flew out to end the inning with Wildcats trailing 4-1.

In the top of the second, Academic Magnet again led off with three singles, and Ryan Berlinsky made a sacrifice bunt to start bringing in the runners. Josh Isaacks reached on a fielder’s choice hit, but the next two batters flew out to end the inning with two runs for a 6-1 lead. Kaleb Page opened the bottom of the inning with a double and Joseph Scott made a sacrifice bunt to advance him to third, where he scored on a grounder from Gunnar Grossetti. With two outs, Dekendrick Graves hit a double, but McCollum hit a grounder to end the inning with the Wildcats now trailing 6-2.

The Raptors picked up one more run in the top of the third with Zach Zuber reaching on an error and advancing on singles from Connor Woods, and Kyle Davis to score. Woods advanced all the way to third, but went out on the way home on a fielder’s choice hit from Isaacks.

Neither team would score again until the bottom of the fifth, when the Wildcats broke loose for seven runs. Graves, McCollum, and Carter all singled to load the bases and started coming home on passed balls. With one out, Austin Moody and Duncan Callahan singled, and Kaleb Page reached on a hit by pitch with more runners coming home on passed balls. A double from Joseph Scott helped clear the bases, and Scott stole third before coming home on a single Grossetti before Graves hit into a double play to end the inning with the Wildcats up 9-7. The Raptors went three up, three down in the top of the sixth, and the Wildcats held them to just one hit and one walk in the top of the seventh to seal the win.

Click here to see more game photos from Shannon Sawyer Carter!

On the mound for Dillon, Austin Moody allowed four hits, one run, two walks, and five outs, and Rae Rae McGirt gave up six hits, six runs, five earned runs, two walks, and two outs. Academic Magnet’s Kyle Davis pitched six innings for 10 hits, nine runs, eight earned runs, one hit by pitch, and two walks with one out.

At bat for Dillon, Dekendrick Graves went 2-for-3 with a double and one run; Joseph Scott went 1-for-2 with a double, two RBI, one stolen base, and one run; Gunnar Grosetti went 1-for-3 with two RBI; Austin Moody went 1-for-4 with two RBI; Omar McCollum went 1-for-4 with two runs scored, also reaching on an error; Jon-Mitchell Carter went 1-for-3 with one run; Patrick Herring went 1-for-3 and also reached on a walk; Duncan Callahan went 1-for-2 with one run, also drawing a walk; Kaleb Page went 1-for2 with a double and two runs, also reaching on a hit by pitch; and Cody Johnson scored one run. The Wildcats had 10 hits and two errors in the win.

For the Raptors, Adam Ackerman went 3-for-4 with two runs and two stolen bases, also reaching on a walk; Connor Woods went 3-for-5 with one RBI and two runs; Kyle Davis went 3-for-4 with one RBI, also getting a fielder’s choice hit; Ethan Linhart went 1-for-4 for a double with two RBI; Ryan Berlinsky drew a walk for one RBI and one run, also reaching on error; Josh Isaacks picked up one RBI on two fielder’s choice hits; Zach Zuber scored one run on a walk, also reaching on error; and Maxim Fisher scored one run. The Raptors had 10 hits and two errors in the effort.

Click here to see more photos from Saturday’s game from Johnnie Daniels/THE DILLON HERALD!

Dillon improved to 11-7 on the season and will host the District VIII championship game on Wednesday night against the winner of Monday night’s elimination game.

Photos by Shannon Sawyer Carter. Click the images below to view at full size!