BATESBURG -- After being swept by Wyman King Academy during the regular season, Calhoun Academy was able to exact some revenge in Game One of the Class 2-A SCISA baseball semifinals.

The Cavaliers took a 1-0 series lead with a 10-2 victory over the Knights Wednesday in Batesburg.

CA was led by pitcher Andrew Robinson who pitched a complete game giving up two runs and striking out eight Knights.

“We just didn’t do a good job of hitting today,” WKA head coach Zach Matthews said. “Credit their pitcher, he threw a great game.”

The Cavaliers were able to take some pressure off of Robinson early in the game with two runs in the first inning. The first coming from a solo home run by Trez Wienges followed by an RBI double from William Granger later in the inning.

“It was important for us to come out and get some runs early, because this pitcher (John Eric Haynes) is probably the best guy we’ve seen all year,” CA head coach Adam Jarecki said.

Haynes was able to settle down until the fifth when CA would strike for three more runs pushing their lead to 5-0.

Jimmy Reed led off the inning reaching on an error and moved to second on a single by Bryan Love. After two outs, Jordan Rucker slapped a ball that was snagged by a diving third baseman who reached to tag Reed, only to come up short.

The missed tag would prove costly as Granger delivered another blow scoring a run followed by a Jeff Grubbs single that scored two.

“We were able to put the bat on the ball all day against good pitching,” Jarecki said. “(William) Granger was able to come up big tonight, especially with runners on base.”

The Knights would get two back in the bottom of the fifth as Robinson walked Nick Long and Ben Locklier to open the inning. Haynes was able to help himself delivering a two-run double cutting the Cavs lead to 5-2.

Calhoun Academy would put the game away in the sixth as Granger again delivered the key hit, this time a two-run double making the score 9-2 and giving the Cavs a 1-0 series advantage.

“It’s good to get this win, but we have to come out ready to play tomorrow,” Jarecki said. “(Matt) Arant will probably get the start for us. He and Robinson pitched a lot last week so you never know what you’re going to get.”

The Knights will try to bounce back after losing just their third game of the season.

“This team will have to face a little adversity, which is something they didn’t have to do much of during the regular season,” Matthews said. “I tell our guys to flush it, forget about this loss and get ready to play tomorrow.”

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