Class AA Baseball: Bishop England claims District 7 baseball championship with victory over Andrews

The Bishop England baseball team won the District 7 championship with a 7-1 victory over Andrews on Wednesday night at Father Kelly Field.

The Bishops, who improved to 17-10, travel to Dillon Saturday for the opener of the Class AA Lower State championship.

Dillon advanced with a victory over Academic Magnet.

Ryan Maksim upped his record to 6-0 with a complete-game four-hitter. He struck out four and didn’t allow a walk. He gave up just one run, which came in the first inning.

Andrews pitcher Patrick Ward had a perfect game entering the bottom of the fourth, but the Bishops plated two runs on one hit in the inning to take the lead.

The Bishops had seven hits by seven different batters as they beat Andrews for the second time in five days.

The Bishops took a 2-1 lead in the bottom of the fourth inning. Zack Madden walked, went to second on Matt Hamin’s sacrifice bunt and scored when Maksim reached on an error. Tradd Lowman followed with an RBI single to give his team the lead for good.

The Bishops added two more runs in the fifth on RBI singles by Madden and Hamlin.

Cameron Garrett and Matt Jones added RBI singles in the sixth inning.

The Bishops are seeking their second straight state title and sixth in 10 years.

Andrews 100 000 0—1 4 2
Bishop England 000 223 x—7 7 2

WP—Maksim (6-0). LP—Ward. Records: BE 17-10. Next: BE advances to Lower State Championship Series. Notes: Maksim had complete-game with five strikeouts.