Todd Joyner led West Columbia from the mound and at the plate. He pitched a complete– game five hitter, then hit a home run and two doubles. As Todd Joyner walked to the mound in the sixth inning, the bullpen was active.

His pitch count stood at 88—even though he had cruised through the first three innings.

And West Columbia coach Legree Oswald was faced with choices that would greatly impact the rest of the team’s first– round American Legion playoff series against Greer.

Joyner then did something unexpected. He roared through the sixth on eight pitches and the seventh on seven pitches—en route to the complete game 9–2 victory that gave West Columbia a 2–0 lead in the best–of–five series.

“We were running through three pitching options in the sixth, but he had a good inning, and he wanted to finish, so we let him go,” Oswald said.

West Columbia’s Jonathan Betancourt tries to turn two against Greer. Joyner was helped by mental errors on the bases; Greer had a runner doubled off second base in the seventh and eighth innings. However, he finished with a five–hitter that included five walks.

“The complete game changes our strategy a lot,” Owald said. “In that situation, where we had a cushion on the scoreboard, and he was still throwing well —you know he’s not coming back the rest of this week—so you see if he can go the rest of the way. He was still within his zone; he’s thrown 120 for us a couple of times this season.”

Those two quick innings meant Oswald didn’t need to use relievers Wesley Camp or Stuart Pound two nights in a row or to burn an inning from Wednesday’s scheduled starter Ken Smoak.

“The goal was to go into Wednesday’s game with two starters ready to go,” Oswald said. “That way, in case we lose, we still have a guy to come back with Thursday.”

West Columbia’s offense helped the strategy, scoring three times in the first and building an 8–2 lead after four innings. Joyner led the offense with a solo homer and two doubles. Austin Dunn and Matt Tanner added two hits each.