The Bluffton American all-stars survived another thriller Wednesday to advance to the championship round of the Dixie Youth Baseball AAA state tournament in Hartsville.
Bluffton scored the go-ahead run in the sixth inning and held on for a 3-2 win over Midland, advancing to face Hartsville Northern in the championship at 10 a.m. Thursday. Bluffton will have to defeat Hartsville twice to claim the state title.
Bluffton’s offense got off to a quick start, as Roman Colella and Jackson Arseneau led off the game with consecutive singles and came around to score on RBIs from Miles Frye and Trace Mischik.
Runs were much tougher to come by for the rest of the night. Bluffton left the bases loaded in the fourth, and Midland scored twice in the bottom of the frame to tie it.
That’s where it remained until the top of the sixth, when Arseneau scored on a passed ball to give Bluffton a 3-2 lead. Midland had the tying run at second in the bottom of the inning, but Colton Young made a great catch in right field to record the final out and send Bluffton into the championship round.
Mischik picked up the win on the mound, allowing two runs over five innings, and Brady Copeland pitched the sixth to nail down the save.