3A Baseball Playoffs: Eagles Defeat Devildogs, 10-3

TRAVELERS REST — Eastside rallied Friday night to beat Travelers Rest, 10-3, and advance to the 3A Upper State final.

The Eagles will play 5 p.m. Monday at A.C. Flora in Columbia and must beat the Falcons twice to advance into the best-of-three state championship series.

Trailing, 3-0, in the fourth inning, Eastside scored four times. They would add four more runs in the fifth inning to take control of the game. The Eagles padded the lead with two more in the sixth. Ryan Mason came in to pitch out of a bases-loaded jam in the second and did not give up a run. Mason also was a hero at the plate, hitting a three-run homer in the fifth inning as Eastside moved took a 7-3 lead.

Eastside’s first five batters of the fourth inning reached base and four of them scored. Brandon Barber, Mason, Zach White and Jacob Marke had consecutive singles, with White and Marke driving in runs. The Eagles also scored on a passed ball and a bunt by Sam Jones with a runner on third.

In the fifth, Mason’s home run to left field scored Kyle Van Hoff and Barber. White followed with a double over the right fielder’s head and came home on a single by Graham Mitchell.

Eastside loaded the bases with nobody out in the sixth on two walks and an infield hit. The Eagles benefitted from a two-out error to score a couple of unearned runs.

Mason pitched just short of six innings, allowing no runs on five hits.

A.C. Flora is the defending 3A state champion, having beaten Fort Mill in two games last season.

Eastside made it to the upper state championship game in 2011, but lost to Union County.