LEXINGTON, S.C. — The Kingsmen varsity team won two tight games in a row on Friday to steal a couple of games on the road from P27.
Game one saw the Kingsmen strike first when Caiden McNeil scored in the opening inning, but P27 responded swiftly to take a 5-1 lead after two innings. AJ Griffith stepped on the mound in relief and shut down the Blacksmiths offense.
That relief allowed the Kingsmen bats to come alive at the end of game one. Playing just six innings due to a time limit imposed prior to the contest, the Kingsmen scored three runs in the fifth before scoring three more in the sixth to retake the lead.
The 7-5 lead was preserved by Harris Clark in the final half-inning, who conceded a single run but ended things before P27 could tie things up, ending the game at 7-6.
Game two started with a bang. The Kingsmen batted around the order, scoring five runs as part of a huge opening inning. It appeared that the Kingsmen were marching toward an easy second win.
But when P27 punched back for four of their own in the bottom of the first, the varsity team had to dig deep.
Jack Catron had a two-run single in the second inning to give the Kingsmen a couple more, and then the pitchers took over.
Nemo Barnes recovered from that first inning, pitching four really good innings for the Kingsmen on the mound. On the P27 side, the Kingsmen saw two Premier-level pitchers in the doubleheader, challenging the Kingsmen varsity hitters with high-tier ABA competition.
In fact, no one scored until the latter stages of the game, when P27 finally broke through in the fifth to tie things at 7-7. Going into the final inning, both dugouts searched for answers to find the win.
The Kingsmen rose to the challenge, scoring two runs in the form of Caiden McNeil and Eli Thomas. Brody Weinandt got the save in the bottom of the sixth to wrap things up.
Next week is wire-to-wire with Kingsmen Baseball, featuring two varsity matchups on either side of a pivotal prospect conference series with DSC in Virginia. Keep an eye on the “2026 Schedule” tab and Kingsmen social media for any updates concerning the schedule.
