Orangeburg head coach Frank Leysath didn’t sleep a wink after Monday night’s extra-inning victory over Columbia Northeast.

He could have used the rest as he and his Post 4 players had to fight through 12 more innings -- giving them a marathon-like 22 innings of baseball between Monday and Tuedsay’s games -- of baseball against West Columbia Post 79 before earning a 1-0 win.

Post 4 starting pitcher Don Sandifer had very little trouble throughout the game. He never faced more than four batters during his time on the mound and recorded eight strikeouts through seven innings. Not to be outdone was Post 79 pitcher Jeremy Brazell, who held Post 4 to two hits before being pulled out of the game after eight innings.

“The kid that pitched for West Columbia kept us off balance,” Leysath said. “He pitched a fantastic ball game.”

Post 4 might not have been on the winning end if it weren’t for two critical defensive stops in the top of the eighth. After Jon Betancourt singled to left and made his way to third on an error, Zach Hawley grounded to Randon Sandifer. Betancourt sprinted for home plate, but he was called out after the younger Sandifer’s throw beat him there. Luke Beasley singled to right field during the next at-bat, but Matt Arant threw out Hawley after he over-ran second base.

Still, Post 4 continued to struggle at the plate and Don Sandifer was beginning to wear down. With that in mind, Leysath called on Andrew Robinson to come in and pick up where Sandifer left off and he did just that.

“I can’t say enough about Don Sandifer or A-Rob,” Leysath said. “Both of them were superb.”

Sandifer and Robinson combined to allow eight hits to keep their team in the game.

In the 12th inning, Orangeburg made its move. Randon Sandifer, who had two of the three hits for Post 4, sent a hard grounder to first base. A bad throw from the West Columbia first baseman allowed Sandifer to keep the inning alive. Dillon Way earned a walk on four straight pitches in the following at-bat setting the stage for Kyle Gallman.

“I wasn’t feeling too good when I got up there,” Gallman said. “I had some pretty poor at-bats before that, but I just wanted to see if I could get a good pitch to hit.”

Gallman sent the second pitch he saw sailing over the left fielder’s head allowing Sandifer to score the game-winning run.

“It’s great,” Gallman said of the win. “We needed this one. We put another into extra innings (Monday). So, this gives us a lot of momentum going into our next game.”

Orangeburg (7-3) will need that momentum tonight at 7:30 p.m. as they host Newberry, the team that handed Post 4 its first loss of the season. Despite that fact, Leysath isn’t worried about his team’s energy.

“I think the stamina is there,” he said. “I think they’ve proved that in these last two nights by playing 22 innings and winning both ball games by one run. Are they tired? Yeah, I’m sure they are tired, but they’re young guys. They’ve got a lot more energy, drive, desire and determination than I’ve got. They are what makes me go.”

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.

 

You must be logged in to comment.