ST. MATTHEWS – Calhoun Academy is no stranger to facing adversity.

The defending SCISA Class A champion were down by three runs in the second game of Friday night’s doubleheader against Dillon Christian, but fought its way back to take a 6-5 win in eight innings.

Things didn’t start off so well for the Cavaliers Game Two starting pitcher, Matt Arant. Kyle Johnson led the first inning off with an infield single, advanced to second on an errant pickoff attempt by Arant and made his way to third on a wild pitch. Josh Funderburk brought Johnson in on another infield single making it 1-0. After stealing second, Funderburk made his way home on a double to center by Rob Tallon making it 2-0. Arant would settle down after that, but his pitch count was already at 19 by the end of the inning.

“Matt struggled a little bit,” Calhoun Academy head coach Adam Jarecki said. “He wasn’t as sharp, but hats off to them. They’ve got a good club. They’ve got a couple of guys that swing the bat well.”

The Cavaliers (15-5) responded in the bottom of the second inning. After a one-out walk, Jeff Grubbs reached second thanks to a balk by DC starting pitcher Stephen Johnson. Robinson singled in Grubbs making it a 2-1 game.

Dillon Christian (16-8) extended their lead in the top of the fifth inning. Kyle Johnson picked up his third hit of the game with a ground rule double to start things off for the Warriors. He followed that up by moving over to third on a passed ball. Following a walk issued to Funderburk, Johnson scored on another errant pickoff attempt making the score 3-1. Funderburk gave the Warriors a three-run lead on Corey Graham’s two-out infield single.

Down 4-1, the Cavalier faithful rallied behind their team hoping their encouragement would give them the boost they needed.

“This is playoff time,” Jarecki said. “We want everybody to be excited. Playing at home is a big deal. This was the kind of atmosphere we wanted to have.”

Calhoun Academy battled back in their half of the fifth. Taylor Culler led off the inning with a single and moved up to second on Stephen Johnson’s second balk of the game. Arant helped his cause with a RBI single to right scoring Culler making it a 4-2 game. Bryan Love, who was hit by a pitch during his at-bat, scored during the play thanks to an errant throw cutting the deficit to one. Trez Wienges followed that with a RBI single of his own scoring Arant to tie the game 4-4.

The stalemate didn’t last long for either team. Funderburk regained the lead for Dillon Christian with a solo home run to left making it 5-4. Still, the Cavaliers refused to give in. Wienges collected his second RBI by singling in Jimmy Reed tying the game 5-5 and forcing the contest into extra innings.

Despite Arant’s high pitch count, he was able to retire the Warriors quickly to give his team a chance to win it at the plate. Arant finished the day with seven strikeouts and two walks while scattering eight hits.

William Granger got the Calhoun rally started with a single to right. After being moved over to second on a sacrifice bunt by Grubbs, Ashton Shuler came in to pinch run for Granger. Reed grounded back to the pitcher with two outs, but the pitcher bobbled the ball and slipped as he tried to retrieve it. Reed hustled down the line forcing the pitcher to commit a throwing error allowing Shuler to score the game-winning run.

“I’m proud of my kids,” Jarecki said. “We were down a run in the seventh after the kid hits the home run. That could’ve been lights out, but I’m proud of the way my kids came back, battled and got guys in position.”

Earlier, the Cavaliers took the opening game of the doubleheader 5-1. Jordan Rucker was 2-for-3 with a two-run homer and four RBIs. Wienges was 1-for-2 with a RBI and a run scored. Andrew Robinson was credited with the win after recording three strikeouts and a walk in seven innings.

The Cavaliers have now won 10 straight playoff games. However, none of that will matter when they face the upper state’s top-seeded W.W. King in Batesburg on Tuesday in the Class A semifinal series.

“We’ve got to take the next step,” Jarecki said. “This is great, but it’s over. That’s it. What have we done? We’ve won the quarterfinal. Big deal. We won the state championship last year. So, we need to go farther. We need to keep going.”

T&D Sports Writer Emery Glover can be reached by e-mail at eglover@timesanddemocrat.com or by phone at 803-533-5532. Check out his blog, Cover 2, at www.thetandd.com for game notes.

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