Dylan Parker pitches for West Columbia against Irmo–Chapin. Photo by Claire Ward West Columbia coach Kevin Mattox looked at Tuesday’s game with Irmo– Chapin as a chance to close the gap on the region leaders.

Chad Balderman and Post 193 had other ideas.

Balderman homered twice and three pitchers combined on a seven–hitter to lead Irmo–Chapin to a 7–3 victory at Dutch Fork High School.

“We’re sitting in second with Richland right now, so it would have been nice to come in here and get a win,” Mattox said.

By combining Tuesday’s win against West Columbia with Monday’s 21–16 victory against Richland, Irmo–Chapin (9–2) gave itself breathing room in the standings heading into the season’s second half. If Balderman stays hot, Post 193 will be difficult to catch.

Balderman broke a scoreless tie with a home run just over the center field fence while leading off the fourth. He added a two–run homer in the fifth to give Irmo–Chapin a 3–2 lead. The outfielders barely moved on the blast to left, his fourth homer in two games.

Jesse Morris pitches for Irmo–Chapin against West Columbia. Photo by Claire Ward “We’ve seen them three games so far, and he’s hit four home runs off us,” Mattox said of Balderman. “Right before he hit that second home run, I thought about intentionally walking him.”

Andrew Gates nearly matched Balderman. Gates launched a two–run homer in the sixth, producing a 5–2 lead. He hit a deep fly ball to right in the second inning that was caught at the fence.

The three home runs ruined the start by West Columbia’s Dylan Parker.

“This was just his second start for us; we’ve had a lot of guys coming in and out of the lineup,” Mattox said. “He threw the ball very well; he just had trouble keeping it down to a couple of hitters.”

Irmo–Chapin first baseman Chad Balderman has hit four home runs in his last two games. Photo by Claire Ward Until Balderman’s blasts, the game was shaping up as a pitcher’s duel between Parker and Irmo– Chapin starter Jesse Morris, who earned the win with six innings of five–hit ball.

West Columbia (6–4) scored in the fifth when Jon Betancourt lined a two–run single and in the eighth when Stuart Pound reached second on a strikeout–passed ball and scored on a Corey Holmes groundout.

Both starters were aided by their defenses; each turned a pair of double plays in the first four innings.
Andrew Gates bats for Irmo–Chapin. Gates hit one home run and nearly got another against West Columbia. Photo by Claire Ward