NORTH AUGUSTA --- Vic Radcliff winced as he watched his North Augusta baseball team step into the batter's box Tuesday night in a Lower State playoff game against Wando.

"Our hitters took poor approaches at bat," the Yellow Jackets coach said. "We didn't match their intensity at the plate. I saw that right away."

By the time the Yellow Jackets looked comfortable at the plate -- they began the bottom of the fifth inning with three consecutive hits -- Wando had smashed its way to a 10-run lead.

The Warriors, ranked No. 1 in Class AAAA, finished with 18 hits in a 14-4 win over the Yellow Jackets at Riverview Park.

Coincidentally, the top of the Warriors' lineup, which included Wake Forest signee Daniel Aldrich, didn't produce the main chunk of the offense. The bottom third of the lineup went 7-for-11, with two of the team's four home runs. Aldrich hit the team's final homer in the top of the seventh.

"We don't have a bottom of the lineup," Wando coach Jeff Blankenship said. "(Those hitters) would be hitting in the (No.) 3 hole of any other team in Charleston."

Taylor Guerrieri, a sophomore who recently gave a verbal commitment to South Carolina, reached base three times for the Yellow Jackets. Taylor Rozier doubled and had two of North Augusta's seven hits.

Reid Longdale pitched five innings to earn the win and never gave up more than two runs in an inning, even though the Warriors committed four errors.

North Augusta had only two hits through the first four innings. Trailing 12-2 and needing at least a run to avoid the mercy rule, it opened the bottom of the fifth with three consecutive hits. The Yellow Jackets scored two runs, and guaranteed the game would go all seven innings.

Tonight, North Augusta plays host to Conway, which eliminated Lexington, in an elimination game. The winner will need to go to Mount Pleasant and beat Wando twice Friday to earn the crown and a berth in next week's state title series.

Blankenship was noncommittal about his rotation for Friday.

State association rules limit pitchers to 10 innings in any three-day period. Wando junior Drew Cisco, a University of Georgia recruit, threw 6 1/3 innings against Conway and will have his full allotment Friday.

"Nothing is inevitable," Radcliff said. "This is high school baseball. anything can happen."