Bishops race by Marion

Andrew Kinard had three hits and drove in three runs and Ryan Maksim added two hits and three RBI to lead defending state champion Bishop England past visiting Marion, 11-8, in the Class AA baseball playoffs Wednesday night.

The Bishops will take on the winner of the Cheraw-Woodland game on Saturday in the Lower State semifinals.

Like the rest of his teammates, Bishop England starter David Dunlay (7-2) struggled early, giving up four runs in the first three innings. Dunlay, however, settled down and retired 10 of the next 12 batters, while his teammates pounded out nine hits and 11 runs over the next three innings.

"The last couple of outings that David has pitched we've gotten behind," said Bishops coach Bill Collier. "It just seems like it has taken him a couple of innings to get loose."

Trailing 4-0, the Bishops closed the gap to 4-3 with three runs in the bottom of the third. The Bishops added two runs in the fifth and then broke the game open with a six-run sixth inning to grab an 11-4 lead.

"We got some hits and they had to bring in some of their young pitchers," Collier said. "They threw the ball around a little bit late in the game and we took advantage of that."

Marion made things interesting in the seventh inning with four runs, but it wasn't enough as the Bishops advanced to the next round of the playoffs.

"We've raised our team batting average 40 points," Collier said. "We just need to pitch a little bit better. We need to put a complete game together."

Marion 1 2 1 0 0 4 - 8-9-5

BE 0 0 3 0 2 6 x - 11 9 1

WP: David Dunlay (7-2).

Notes: Bishop England: Andrew Kinard 3-4, 3 RBI; Ryan Maksim 2-3, 3 RBI, Alex Abrahms 2 RBI.