Gaffney outslugs Vikings

It looks like facing playoff elimination was just what the Gaffney High baseball team needed to put life into its bats.

McCrae Norton had a homer, double and single and John Michaels homered and tripled as the Indians put on an offensive show in a 21-13 victory over visiting Spartanburg on Thursday.

The Indians won their fourth region game in a row to improve to 6-6. They will qualify for postseason play if region-leading Boiling Springs beats Byrnes today. The Bulldogs are expected to throw their ace, Jimmy Revan.

"We've just started to come around," Gaffney coach Tom Owens said. "We realized that we had an opportunity if we wanted to make the playoffs. The light came on."

And the bats came alive.

Every starter but two had at least one hit. Cameron Culp extended his hitting streak to eight games and Dylan Jolley continued to swing a hot bat with a triple and double.

The Indians needed almost every run since the Vikings roughed up Gaffney starter Bobby Jackson, who was relieved by Michaels and Jolley before re-entering the game to nail down the victory.

The Indians built a 13-5 lead and appeared headed for an easy win, but the Vikings closed the deficit to 13-12.

The Indians extended their advantage to 15-12. But Spartanburg wouldn't go away, pulling within 15-13.

Gaffney sealed the win with six runs to cap its scoring.

The Indians stepped out of their region to battle T.L. Hanna on Wednesday.

Owens gave each of his starters an at bat before playing his reserves the rest of the way in a 7-4 loss to the Yellow Jackets.

Gaffney finishes its regular season on Monday in another nonregion game against Easley.