ST. PAULS – The host St. Pauls Bulldogs broke open a tight game with four runs in the fourth inning and then tallied five in the fifth to take a 13-3 victory over Waccamaw 1A-2A Conference co-champion South Columbus Tuesday in the opening round of the state 2A high school baseball playoffs.

The game was halted in the fifth inning by the 10-run rule as St. Pauls upped its season record to 18-5.

South Columbus closed its season with a 16-8 record. St. Pauls, which will travel to play South Lenoir Friday in the second round of the playoffs, improve to 18-5. South Lenoir topped Clinton Tuesday by a identical 13-3 score.

St. Pauls, which finished runner-up to West Columbus in the Southeastern 1A-2A Conference, got a triple by Trevor and doubles by winning pitcher Josh Carter and Trey Lowery. Shea Townsend had a two-run single as the Bulldogs were aided by four South Columbus errors. St. Pauls finished with five hits while South Columbus had six.

Justin Creech took the mound loss for SCHS. Garrett Bullock had two hits for the Stallions and Landon Simmons ripped a double.

South Columbus took a 2-0 lead in the second inning and St. Pauls held a 4-3 lead after three innings.

St. Pauls gained the playoffs as a wild card entry after tying Whiteville for the Waccamaw Conference title. Whiteville got the conference’s lone automatic 2A berth by way of its two conference wins over the Stallions.

Coach Willie Gore’s Stallion squad had been left off the original 2A playoff bracket even though it had one of the best records of teams who had not gained an automatic berth. The bracket was corrected on Monday.

S. Columbus	021	00	-	3	6	4
St. Pauls	032	45	-	13	5	1

Creech, Bullock (4) and Piver; Carter and Shaw.