Byrnes lead region after series win over Boiling Springs

Senior pitcher Jake Short tossed a complete game in Byrnes’ 6-3 win over Boiling Springs.

Byrnes baseball took two of three games from region favorite Boiling Springs last week, moving to 6-1 in the region and strengthening its grip on first place.

After being run-ruled 10-0 in five innings on Monday, the Rebels bounced back with two straight wins over the Bulldogs—6-3 on Wednesday and 12-3 on Thursday.

“I’m proud of the way these guys responded after that first game,” said Byrnes head coach Taylor Hollifield. “That’s a very tight group we’ve got, and they know how to pick each other up.”

In the second game of the series, senior pitcher Jake Short threw a complete game to power the Rebels to the win in front of a packed home crowd. Short struck out four and allowed three earned runs, keeping a high-powered Boiling Springs lineup at bay.

“Last year we got swept by Boiling Springs, and we definitely didn’t want that to happen again,” said Short. “We had to regroup and respond as a team and we did.”

Short said the difference in this year’s team is the large group of seniors helping lead the way.

“We had, I want to say one senior last year. More of us are seniors this year and we really want it more. It’s our last year, so we really want to give it our all.”

Fellow senior Payne Sheriff—who batted home three of the Rebels’ six RBIs in game two—agreed.

“I think we’ve matured a lot as a team,” said Sheriff. “We’ve got great senior arms on the mound, guys like Jake, Connor Crenshaw. And we’ve got the bats, too. We know how to put balls in play, and we’ve been doing a really good job of that this year so far.”

“One of the things that can be said about this team is that it’s a very level-headed group,” said Hollifield. “They don’t get too hot-headed in a negative way or too down. They lead each other in the right way.”

Byrnes’ lead was as big as 6-2, but the Bulldogs rallied in the seventh inning. They brought in a run and had two runners on base with just one out.

Instead of getting rattled or taken out of the game, Short induced a double play to seal the win.

“I just needed to get that last out,” said Short. “I love that I have a coaching staff that trusts me to stay in there and get the job done. This is a great win.”

Byrnes will look to strengthen its grip even tighter on the region with a three-game set against Gaffney this week. The Rebels took game one on Monday, 8-0. They’ll travel to Gaffney on Wednesday before closing the series at home on Friday night.