CMS Baseball Update: It’s Providence-Ardrey Kell again in SoMeck final Thursday

When Ardrey Kell All-Star pitcher Trey Tujetsch pitches with a lead, he’s very hard to beat.

His teammates gave him an early seven-run advantage over South Mecklenburg in the SoMECK conference tournament semifinals Tuesday night, and then Tujetsch did his thing. Ardrey Kell advanced to the SoMeck 7 4A conference final with a 10-3 win.

The Knights, seeded No. 3, beat South Meck for the first time in three meetings. They will play rival Providence, the No. 1 seed, Thursday in the conference final at Ardrey Kell. The Panthers defeated Olympic 13-4 in its semifinal Tuesday.

Tujetsch couldn’t finish the game but pitched a very effective 5 1/3 innings to grab the win. Luke Carpenter came in with two outs in the sixth and the bases loaded and struck out South Meck’s leadoff man Matt Hill to end a potential Sabres’ rally.

The trouble started for No. 2 seed South Meck in the top of the second inning when the Knights sent 11 men to the plate against Sabres’ starting pitcher Jackson Benjamin. Ardrey Kell belted out six hits and also had the benefit of two walks in the inning in scoring seven runs.

“Benjamin’s a great pitcher, he’s a competitor, and he’s done well against us,” said Ardrey Kell manager Hal Bagwell. “We made a few adjustments up there and our guys executed a great plan. We just kept it rolling.”

After the Knights added another run in the top of the third, South Meck manager Brian Hoop replaced Benjamin with relief pitcher Seth Taylor, who went one inning before Brandon Bagwell finished the game.

THREE WHO MATTERED:

Pitcher Trey Tujetsch – Ardrey Kell: University of South Carolina commit went 5 1/3 innings while yielding only three runs and scattering five hits while striking out five. He also helped his cause with an RBI single in the Knights’ big seven-run second inning.

Brandon Bagwell – South Meck: Inserted in the third inning, Bagwell pitched 3 2/3 effective relief innings while giving up just two runs and striking out four.

Dennis Matias – Ardrey Kell: Walked and stole two bases in the seventh inning and scored one of two insurance runs in the inning.

WORTH MENTIONING:

• South Meck won both regular-season games against Ardrey Kell, sweeping the Knights in back-to-back games earlier this month by scores of 3-1 and 8-4.

• Five different Knights had RBIs in the game – Cade Stecher (2), Zach Weston (2), Woodson Alexander (2), Tujetsch (1) and Peter Gullo (1). The other two Knights’ runs were scored as a result of passed balls.
  
  

• Four Ardrey Kell pitchers combined to limit South Meck to only five hits.

THEY SAID IT: “It was wild. We needed a big-run inning all year and we haven’t got it. A couple of times teams have done it against us. It felt good for us to put up a big number. It was exciting.” Ardrey Kell designated hitter Woodson Alexander on the Knights’ seven-run second inning.

RECORDS: South Mecklenburg (20-5); Ardrey Kell (19-7)

Tuesday’s CMS baseball/softball scoreboard

I-MECK 4A

Mallard Creek upset regular-season co-champion Mooresville 2-1 in the semifinals behind a complete game from pitcher Bradley Tate. The Mavericks will play Lake Norman or Hough in Thursday’s championship at Hough.

Southwestern 4A

Myers Park got two hits each from Jackson Wise and Massie Flippin in an easy 13-0 win over Garinger in the first round of the Southwestern 4A playoffs. The Mustangs (22-1), the regular-season league champs, will play East Meck in Wednesday’s semifinal. The teams will play at Butler High at 4:30.

The other semifinal will match Porter Ridge and Butler. Butler beat Hickory Ridge 10-9. Porter Ridge beat Rocky River 7-0.

This story was originally published April 30, 2019 at 11:12 PM.