Florence, Lake City gear up for second-round matchup

FLORENCE — Derick Urquhart isn’t taking anything for granted.
Despite a 17-game winning streak and a first-round sweep of Manning, the Post 1 coach isn’t expecting anything to come easy in his team’s second-round series against Lake City that starts tonight.
“Every team still left is a good team and they are much more improved than at any time in the regular season,” Urquhart said. “Both teams know each other pretty well. They are our closest rival and we know they are going to want to beat us.“
Urquhart’s team comes into the series well rested. Florence (22-3) finished off Manning on Wednesday and has had a few extra days off. The time off should help the team’s pitching and has also helped a few players get over the flu.
“I think we will be ready to go,” said Urquhart, who will start Charlie Abbott or Spencer Jordan in tonight’s game.” I’m not real worried about the layoff. We will come ready to play. And every pitcher will have at least seven days of rest.“
Lake City, which has made the playoffs in 14 of the last 15 years, advanced to the second round despite winning just one game in its first-round matchup with Goose Creek. Goose Creek had to forfeit the series because many of its players had to attend a football camp over the weekend.
Post 73 (16-8) features a strong lineup led by Spartanburg Methodist signee Reggie Weatherford and Florence-Darlington Tech signees Charleton Hanna and Tracy Bishop.
This will be the first time the teams have met in the playoffs since 2006 when Post 1 swept Lake City.
Post 1 has won 13 of its last 14 games against Post 73 and holds a 27-13 lead in the all-time series. Florence has dominated the series lately, winning all four games this season, including a 14-8 victory on July 10 in the regular-season finale.
The winner of the series earns a spot in the state tournament, which begins July 28 in Spartanburg. The loser moves into a three-team play-in bracket with the winner of that earning a spot in the tourney.
“We’d much rather earn our way in by winning the series, especially for seeding purposes,” Urquhart said. “If you win the play-in bracket, you will have to face the top seed in the Upstate.
“We’ve been playing well. We just got to keep playing like we did last week.”