A.C. Flora’s Player Loving pitches against Lugoff–Elgin. Going into Friday Night’s match up with Lugoff–Elgin April 23, A.C. Flora coach Andy Hallett was hoping for a large, loud crowd.

“We were praying that we would have a playoff game tonight. We wanted to have a game that had a playoff atmosphere, crowd noise–everything, and we got it.”

Despite the playoff feel to the game, Hallett’s Falcons fell to the Demons 8–5 in 9 innings.

It was a game that had just about everything: lead changes, rallies, home runs, and late game drama.

A.C. Flora came out firing and scored in the bottom of the first when Connor Lewis crossed the plate on a two–out double by Aaron Poole for a 1–0 lead. However, the Falcons would soon find themselves in a hole.

After tying the game in the top of the second, a double by Blake Outlaw scored Jacob Murphy and Ty Robinson to give the Demons a 3–1 lead. Then a ground out by Matt Cook allowed pitcher Forrest Koumas to score extending the lead to 4–1.

The Falcons fought back in the bottom of the fifth. Again, Lewis scored on a double from Poole to cut the deficit to 4–2. Later, Poole scored when Drew Desmond hit a two–out single making it a one run game. Desmond scored when Schroder Carlton hit a double tying the game at 4–4.

The momentum was short lived. In the top of the sixth, the Demons regained the lead 5–4.

In the bottom of the seventh, the Falcons fought back. Roy Faulks led off with a single. He later advanced to second after Poole drew a walk, and then to third when Desmond bunted him around. During David Houser’s at bat, Koumas threw a wild pitch allowing Faulks to score from third and tie the ball game to send it to extra innings.

Hallett wasn’t sur- prised at all by his team’s ability to fight back despite tough circumstances.

“We have some kids that have a little gut in them. We say the game isn’t over until we have 21 outs. Just because you drop down early in the game, that doesn’t mean that it’s over.”

After a scoreless eighth inning, Lugoff– Elgin broke the game open in the top of the ninth. Robinson was hit by a pitch, then Koumas brought him home with a two–run home run to give the Demons a 7–5 lead. Outlaw followed that up with a solo homerun of his own to give Lugoff–Elgin an 8–5 lead. The Falcons were unable to mount a comeback, allowing Lugoff– Elgin to hold on to an 8–5 win.

Despite the loss, Hallett claims that the game was a huge confidence booster for his club as they enter the playoffs.

“It’s huge; we stayed toe to toe with them. Our confidence level is high right now. Even though we got beat 8–5, I promise you it’s high.”

The Falcons are in the Upper State District IV bracket of the Class 3A playoffs. They travel to Blue Ridge April 29 to face the Tigers in the opening round. Union travels to Chapin in the other half of the District IV bracket.

Also, on April 29, Airport hosts Wilson in the Lower State District V bracket. Dreher travels to Marlboro County, and Brookland–Cayce hosts Darlington in the Lower State District VI bracket.