Indians earn coveted playoff spot

Bobby Jackson and his Gaffney High teammates will open the playoffs at York on Thursday. The Gaffney High baseball team got what it needed the most on Friday - a Boiling Springs win over Byrnes.

The Bulldogs' victory secured a playoff spot for the surging Indians, who won four of their last five region games.

Gaffney will open the Class 4A district playoffs on Thursday at York at 7 p.m.

The teams met earlier in the season with the Indians capturing an easy 19-2 victory in the Frank Roach Memorial preseason tournament.

Westside and either White Knoll or North Augusta round out the 4-team, double-elimination district playoff.

The Indians enter the playoffs on fire at the plate. In a 21-13 victory over visiting Spartanburg last Thursday, McCrae Norton homered, doubled and singled and John Michaels homered and tripled for the Indians.

In the same game, Gaffney's 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 also received solid pitching down the stretch from Michaels, Culp and Bobby Jackson, who struck out eight and allowed four hits in the Indians' 4-3 victory over Byrnes last week.

Michaels pitched two scoreless innings of relief and knocked in the game-winning hit in a 6-4 extra-inning win over Mauldin last Tuesday.

Culp started the game and went a solid six innings against the Mavericks before giving way to Michaels.

With the game tied at 4 in the top of the eighth, Michaels singled to make it 6- 5. Norton then added an insurance run with a RBI single.