Bishops wrap up Waccamaw in rout

Four of Bishop England's eight baseball losses this season were one-run decisions against quality opponents in anticipation of some tough playoff competition.

On Saturday, Bishop England faced Waccamaw in a second-round playoff game, and Bishop boss Bill Collier thought the Waccamaw Braves would give his team more of the same.

He thought wrong.

Bishop England, the defending Class AA state champ, picked up an easy 10-0 victory over Waccamaw on Saturday.

Just how easy was it?

The Bishops scored four runs in the first inning without even getting a hit. The visitors committed five errors in the inning.

The Bishops added five runs on five hits in the second and won in the bottom of the sixth inning when Waccamaw hurler Ross Kreisle hit three straight batters, including Cameron Swails with the bases loaded to bring home the final run off the afternoon and give the Bishops their 19th victory of the season.

"I don't know what was up with Waccamaw," Collier said. "I was shocked by the way they threw the ball around. I don't know if they were too fired up or what."

The Bishops are starting to come around at the plate after struggling at times. The Bishops have upped their team batting average by more than 40 points in the last couple of weeks and will be ready for Wednesday's home game against an opponent to be determined.

Jimmy Lindberg has been impressive all year on the mound, and he's showing more power and contact at the plate.

He pitched five innings Saturday and allowed only two hits and struck out eight.

The Bishops' second-inning explosion included RBI singles by Andrew Kinard, Michael Brown and Patrick Mikell. Austin Tortorici was hit by a pitch to bring in another run, while Ryan Maksim hit a sacrifice fly.

"It was a long day, Collier said. "We got out there and practiced a little in the morning," Collier said. "I didn't want to have the kids getting bed sores. We're in a good position. You want to win that Saturday game."

WP: Lindberg. LP: Aaron Bishop